Brittney Griner's arrest extended in Russia 0:49
Washington (CNN) --
There is growing frustration among families of Americans detained abroad who feel that President Joe Biden must act to secure the speedy release of their loved ones, some of whom have spent years behind bars, and who believe that not enough is being received to make such cases a priority.
This mounting anger and anguish was highlighted this week by the attempted suicide of Matthew Heath, a Marine Corps veteran who has been jailed in Venezuela for nearly two years, as well as a "logistical error" that left the star WNBA detainee Brittney Griner unable to call her wife — with whom she hasn't spoken in more than 100 days — on their anniversary.
Several relatives of American hostages and detainees initially expressed great optimism and hope when the Biden administration took office in January 2021, particularly in light of a virtual meeting held by Secretary of State Antony Blinken with family members earlier in the year. February 2021. A senior State Department official said Blinken will meet with families virtually again on Wednesday.
Neda Sharghi, whose brother Emad Shargi has been detained in Iran since 2018, told CNN on Tuesday that "they left very hopeful that there was an urgency on this issue."
Matthew Heath, one of the Americans detained in Venezuela, tried to commit suicide, according to his family
But more than a year after that initial Blinken meeting, the vast majority of his loved ones are still not home, and following the release of Trevor Reed from Russia after his parents met with Biden, there is a feeling among families that real progress requires direct contact with the president.
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This Monday, Griner's agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, also asked Biden to meet with the detained basketball star's family: "If #BrittneyGriner is a priority, @POTUS will meet with Brittney's family and this Administration will do whatever it takes to get her home quickly and safely," he wrote on Twitter.
That same day, a group of relatives of detainees and hostages from around the world calling themselves the "Bring Our Families Home Campaign" sent a letter to Biden, formally asking him to meet with the campaign's leadership team, "Composed of five family members, to share our perspectives, ask you to meet with families by country, and provide you with information that we believe will move all of our cases forward."
"It has become clear to us that without your direct involvement, other issues will continue to overshadow the release of our innocent family members. Nothing should be more critical to our nation than bringing home more than 59 Americans from the clutches of foreign countries that are holding them only for to be Americans,” they wrote in the letter, which was sent nearly two months after they gathered near the White House in May hoping to meet with Biden.
US State Department Now Classifies WNBA Player Brittney Griner as "Wrongly Detained" in Russia
"We don't know what else to do"
Sharghi, who is part of the campaign's leadership team, told CNN that they chose to send the letter now "because the families feel there is a lack of urgency and we don't know what else to do, how else to be heard."
"You are the only one who can ensure your freedom is restored by providing a direct mandate to your administration to find solutions promptly," they wrote in the letter, noting that Biden is "a man of faith and compassion who understands the importance of family." ".
In their letter, the families noted that they "have put (their) lives on hold for years to focus solely on saving our loved ones."
"We wake up every day knowing that they are suffering so much more than we could imagine, so much so that many of them are afraid to wake up. And, for them and our families, we get out of bed and do it all over again, day after day. We are doing our best like normal people, but we are sure that you are the only person who could put an end to this trauma," the families said.
Another member of the leadership team, Alexandra Forseth, whose father and uncle are detained in Venezuela, told CNN that they have been working on the letter for the past month.
She said the White House acknowledged receipt of the letter but did not respond to the meeting request.
"Getting our loved ones home is urgent and this Administration doesn't seem to understand that," he said.
"How many of our loved ones need to be close to death or dying for them to care about getting results instead of the platitudes of these cases being a 'top priority'?"
Exclusive: Trevor Reed details how he survived the horrendous conditions of a Russian psychiatric treatment center
Trevor Reed recounts his release from prison in Russia 4:02
A White House official told CNN they "have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens abroad."
"We can only imagine how challenging this time is for the families of the hostages and those who are unjustly detained and the pain they feel. We keep in regular contact with them," the official said.
"We are grateful for your partnership and feedback. And we continue to work to ensure we communicate and share information in a way that is helpful to our families."
The family of Heath, who is in stable condition in a military hospital in Venezuela after a suicide attempt, criticized the White House for not doing enough to secure his release.
"I wonder how I will explain to his 13-year-old son that his father is not coming home because the White House didn't think saving him was important enough," his aunt, Trudy Rutherford, said in a statement Monday.
His uncle Everett Rutherford, another member of the Bring Our Families Home campaign leadership team, told CNN's "New Day" on Tuesday that the family doesn't believe Heath is "out of the woods" and that they hope he tries to take her life again.
There have been calls, especially in the wake of Reed's release from Russia in a prisoner swap, for the administration to consider whether that's what it takes to bring Americans home.
In their letter, the families of the Bring Our Families Home campaign noted that "they are not indifferent to the moral and ethical questions raised by the use of trades and other tools, but we know that they will understand that the value of bringing home an innocent American unjustly celebrated abroad far outweighs anything else".
Although the bipartisan support for the swap that secured Reed's freedom was welcomed by the White House, prisoner swaps remain rare and controversial and ultimately require a decision by the president.
One of the main challenges is that the US government does not see an equivalence between the courts in the country's legal system and the US citizens they believe to be wrongfully detained abroad.
Another argument against the use of prisoner swaps is concern that it could incentivize other countries to detain Americans for use as bargaining chips.
Mickey Bergman, vice president and executive director of the Richardson Center, which works on behalf of families of detainees abroad, called this argument "intellectually weak and morally bankrupt."
And Reed is urging the administration to consider more prisoner swaps if it means more Americans are released.
-- CNN's Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
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