New parents Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix talk baby son for the first time, address families separated at border

Actors Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix are speaking up following the birth of their son, and using their voice to highlight the number of families still fractured after being separated at the border.

In late September, reports broke that the pair welcomed their first child. Their son is reportedly named River, in honor of the "Joker" star's late brother, who died in 1993.

On Monday, People magazine published an op-ed from the couple addressing news reports that as of Oct. 21, 545 children were still without their parents after being separated at the U.S. border with Mexico between July 1, 2017, and June 26, 2018. Children from that period are difficult to find because the government had inadequate tracking systems. Volunteers have searched for them and their parents by going door-to-door in Guatemala and Honduras.

"As new parents, it's unbearable to imagine what it would feel like to have our child taken away from us for a day, let alone years," Mara and Phoenix write. "But that's the very situation those 545 children and their parents have been living through. As Americans, it's our responsibility to continue paying attention to the plight of these families and get answers for why they still have not been located."

Parents can't be found for 545 children separated at US-Mexico border by Trump administration, lawyers say

"We now know that despite the best efforts of immigration advocates and attorneys who have been racing across Central America trying to track those parents down, hundreds have yet to be found," the couple emphasized. "Some of those parents were fleeing threats from gangs or other forms of violence, and it is impossible to say what may have happened to them.

"For the children who remain separated from their parents, the damage will be lifelong," the pair continued. "Child psychologists say that even short periods of forced removal from the care of a parent can cause irreparable emotional harm. Some of these children are no more than toddlers or have yet to reach their 10th birthday. Our hearts break to think about the suffering they've endured at our country's hands."

Watchdog report: US 'took deliberate steps' to limit daily processing of asylum seekers along Mexico border

The couple closed their op-ed envisioning what they would tell their young son about this time in history.

"We have to ask ourselves: Is this the country that we want? Are these our values? How will it feel to explain to our son, when he asks us about this time and how we treated scared, defenseless children, some of whom may never see their parents again?" the actors asked. "For the sake of our nation's character, I hope we will be able to tell him that America unequivocally rejected this cruelty and demanded that our representatives did everything in their power to find those missing parents."

Similarly, singer Shakira joined international outcry in an essay for Time, saying she couldn't help but think of her youngest son, Sasha, whom she shares with partner soccer player Gerard Piqué, when reading the news.

"It’s estimated that 60 of these (545) children were under the age of 5 when they were first separated from their parents," she wrote. "As a mother, I think about my youngest son, who is now 5. I think about how he cries for me when he skins his knee, and the pain I feel if I am not there to comfort him.

"Who answers the cries of the children left without their parents?" she continued. "I cannot imagine the pain I would feel not knowing where my son was and whether he was safe, or the fear that these children must endure and the emotional scarring that is inflicted upon them."

Contributing: The Associated Press

'Now is not the time to be silent': Shakira pens powerful essay on children separated at border

Fact check: Viral photos don't show children in cages. They're from an art installation.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara talk son, families separated at border