Maddow Obtains Audio Of Facility Worker Warning Migrant Children Not To Speak To Press
In video and audio footage that was recorded surreptitiously at the Cayuga Center in Harlem that houses hundreds of unaccompanied minors and migrant children separated from parents, a young girl is seen crying over being separated from her mother. On top of that, a worker at the facility can be heard telling children not to speak to reporters or they may not see their families again.
Yes, that’s correct. An employee at a federal welfare agency threatened kids to be quiet or else.
During Monday night’s The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow played video of a young migrant girl that was obtained by a former employee at the center who has since quit. Maddow, noting they were protecting the ex-employee’s identity, pointed out that the woman said she provided the footage because “it’s time for everybody to stand up and to stop being afraid and actually help these children that are being separated from their parents.”
Exclusive: A foster facility worker tries to get information from a young migrant girl about who she is, how she got to the U.S., and where her mother is. pic.twitter.com/c2HmGMoxsP
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) June 26, 2018
Maddow also explained that the video footage from inside the facility was the first non-government sourced video showing the interior of one of these migrant child detention centers.
After showing footage of the heartbroken young girl who was inconsolable over being separated from her mother, Maddow then played a short audio clip obtained from the center in which a worker tells children not to speak to reporters because it would interfere with them being reunited with their families.
Further plunge into civil rights nightmare for America:
Leaked audio footage of employee at child migrant detention facility. Warning children not to talk to reporters or else…
(via @maddow) pic.twitter.com/HA9tW5r8NM
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) June 26, 2018
“If for whatever reason you talk to a reporter — you know what’s going to happen to your case? It is going to be on the news — and then one doesn’t know what is going to happen — if you are going to last here for a long time,” the worker could be heard saying. “I am not trying to scare you. I am just telling you, it’s the truth.”
The employee continued, “You have to be careful not to talk. Because while you are here, you guys are ok. We are protecting you. We are trying to help you so you can reunify with your family or whoever it will be. Understood?”
That is just…chilling.
Watch the footage above, via MSNBC.
