Take Action for Human Rights

Kids Deserve Safety and Freedom — Not Jail!

Update: Right now, a group of individuals and families from Central America are crossing into Mexico as part of a caravan to the U.S. seeking protection. Many need proper shelter, food and protection. These mothers, fathers, and children came together to navigate a dangerous journey — seeking safety here. They deserve compassion — not jail.

After this summer’s uproar over the forced separation of thousands of parents and kids seeking safety here, President Trump signed a deceptive executive order. Instead of tearing children away from their parents when they arrive at the border, Trump says they can stay together — jailed in family detention. The Trump administration wants to issue a new rule that will give them a blank check to jail kids indefinitely in family detention.

Faces of this cruel practice include five moms and their children who have have been locked up in Dilley, Texas for nearly three months now, after having been forcibly separated by the government. They don’t know if or when they’ll ever be free. We can’t let the administration write this inhumane practice into law.

Between now and November 6th, the government has to consider comments on their new rule, from the public.

People like you can submit a comment on the administration’s proposed rule on family detention, and help make sure other families like these aren’t locked up indefinitely. It’s just like the fight over Net Neutrality — if we flood the government with comments, they have to read them — all of them! The more comments we submit, the more the Trump administration has to listen to us.

Most importantly, make sure to personalize your public comment below with your own words to reflect your values. Unique comments will have the most impact on the future of children and families detained in the U.S.

We’re aiming for 50,000 comments — that’s 50,000 voices speaking out for humanity and human rights. Will you join us?

⬇ Make Your Voice Heard ⬇

DHS Secretary

Alejandro

Mayorkas

DHS

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I oppose the proposed rule, “Apprehension, Processing, Care, and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children.” It contravenes the standards set in the Flores Settlement Agreement to ensure that children are treated with “dignity, respect and special concern for their particular vulnerability as minors.”  The proposed rule fails to meet those standards.

This rule would:

* Permit long-term detention of children in family detention centers, which violates Flores and U.S. obligations under human rights and refugee law.  It is never in the best interest of a child to be detained, and children and their parents should not be detained on account of their immigration status.  Detention also undermines the right to apply for asylum.  It makes obtaining and communicating with legal representation very difficult, and near impossible to communicate with family members or other witnesses or obtain crucial documents to support their asylum claim.  Studies demonstrate that detention, even for a short amount of time, causes serious harm to a child’s development, health, and well-being.

* Give DHS the power to self-certify and implement standards at family detention centers.  Government and independent reports show that DHS already does not maintain its own standards to provide clean, humane, and safe detention centers.

* Deprive children of the fair and humane opportunity to be released from family detention on bond or parole and the preference to be released to their parents.  This violates Flores and U.S. obligations under human rights and refugee law, which require the least restrictive alternatives to detention be considered and the principle of family unity favored in the best interest of the child.

These proposed changes would ensure that children are kept in prolonged detention with their parents in conditions that are harmful to their health and well-being, with little chance of release.

The U.S. can implement humane and rights-respecting policies that neither separate nor detain families seeking protection. Parents and children should be kept together and released to community-based sponsors through humane alternative-to-detention options.  The Family Case Management Program (FCMP) was 99-percent effective in ensuring that asylum-seeking parents and their children appeared at their immigration court hearings.  FCMP is a proven, rights-respecting, and cost-effective solution.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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