Contact: Courtney Beyer, [email protected]
MADISON — When asked by Wausau television station WAOW whether he would be willing to listen to an audio recording of migrant children in distress at a U.S border facility, Attorney General Brad Schimel outright refused, saying “I would rather move on with other things.”
Two young girls from Guatemala and El Salvador can be heard crying for their family on the recording. A child counselor in Wausau reviewed the tape, originally obtained by ProPublica, saying, “You can just hear the angst in the voices of the kids.” Experts have warned that the trauma of family separation and detention for these children can be psychologically damaging.
“We need an attorney general who will answer to these children’s cries, who aligns himself with our Wisconsin values of caring for our neighbors and extending a helping hand to those who need it most,” said Martha Laning, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “Brad Schimel has no interest in that, so we’ll replace him with someone who does.”
