Detained parents' emotional letter: U.S. government 'kidnapped our children with tricks'

Dozens of "desperate parents" detained at the U.S. border have signed an open letter to the American people pleading for support in their efforts to be reunited with their children.

The letter, handwritten in Spanish and obtained and translated by CNN, was dated July 15 and signed by 54 detainees at the Port Isabel Service Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas.

"We were not prepared for the nightmare that we faced here," the letter says. "The United States government kidnapped our children with tricks and didn't give us the opportunity to say goodbye."

The letter says the parents have been separated from their children for more than a month with little word about their well-being, other than that the kids are living with other families.

The letter says many of the parents have only been able to speak with their children once, and the children don't recognize their parents' voices and feel abandoned and unloved.

"This makes us feel dead in life," the letter says. "Even with all this trauma, nightmares, anguish and pain that this government is imposing on us and our children, we still have to fight for our asylum cases. But the government doesn't give us the opportunity to fight our cases and the judges don't give us the opportunity to speak up."

The letter claims that U.S. authorities have been denying "nearly all" the asylum requests. The parents say they feel pressured to sign deportation documents so they can see their children again.

"We feel like there is no way out of this nightmare because the asylum officials and the judges are against us," the letter concludes. "Please help us and bring justice to Texas!"

Eileen Blessinger, an immigration lawyer from Falls Church, Virginia, has traveled to Los Fresno multiple times trying to aid clients. "It's total craziness," she said. "They are rejecting everybody."

The letter was made public just days after the Trump administration formally activated its new asylum crackdown making it more difficulty for immigrants seeking U.S. refuge.

Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that victims of domestic abuse and gang attacks would no longer qualify for asylum protection. And last week, the government asserted that Sessions' decision was "binding" and provides broad discretion for immigration officers weighing other potentially valid applications.

Specifically, it allows officers to consider refugees' illegal entry to the U.S. as a mark against them even for otherwise viable applications.

Supporters of the immigrants did see a ray of hope Monday: A judge in California rejected a court filing by Health and Human Services officials who wrote that an order requiring accelerated reunifications was leading to "increased risks to child welfare."

The judge said the filing appeared to represent an effort by the government to deny blame for any damage caused to kids from the government's separation policy.

Contributing: John C. Moritz, Alan Gomez and Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY network

WPXI