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Tell ICE: Stop the Deportation of Children and Their Families

Families held in indefinite detention could be deported any day now. A federal court in Washington D.C. has lifted the stay of removal that had been protecting these families from being deported.

Our activism has worked: some families have been released instead of deported. But others remain at imminent risk. Many of these families have been detained for nearly a year‐and‐a‐half, waiting and hoping for safety from the violence and persecution they escaped from. They now face being sent back to danger if returned to their countries of origin.

We must stop these deportations and ensure these families their right to seek asylum in safety and freedom. ICE has the power and obligation to stop this injustice, and not send families back to the very situations they fled from.

Act Now: Demand ICE not deport families back to danger.

After seeking safety in the U.S. from violence and persecution, these families were locked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, and the Berks County Family Residential Center in Pennsylvania.

Instead of being able to pursue their right to asylum, these families spent the entire COVID-19 pandemic detained by ICE and now face deportation. Some children are as young as 2- and 3-years- old. Two teenage girls speak a searing truth: “We ask for the chance to have our right to seek asylum honored and the opportunity to be safe with our mothers.”

Demand ICE to free the families instead of deporting and detaining them.

These families are among the dozens of families detained at Dilley, Berks, and the Karnes County Residential Center in Texas simply for seeking safety here. After confirmed cases of COVID-19 in these detention centers, a federal judge called these facilities “on fire,” with inadequate protective measures.

ICE must do the right thing: stop playing with families’ lives. Don’t deport families, and release all families together as they pursue their right to seek asylum in safety and freedom.

Families like Ana* (22) and Victoria* (4) are cruelly being held in detention right now when they could be freed. They fled Honduras after repeated threats against their lives after Victoria’s father was killed because of his political beliefs. They requested asylum in the U.S. over one year ago and locked up ever since. ICE was informed multiple times that Victoria is asthmatic and particularly at risk for COVID-19, while Ana has been suffering from ovarian cysts that have pained her daily for months, but has not received the appropriate medical care. Ana is trying to stay strong for Victoria as she watches her daughter deteriorate in front of her: Victoria now has anxiety attacks, nightmares, and wets the bed — something she didn’t used to do. She’s also started pinching and biting herself, and chewing on her clothes.

Act Now: Demand ICE: free all families like Ana and Victoria and do not deport them families back to danger.

Families should not be deported, and all families must be immediately released. They must be allowed to pursue claims for asylum in safety and freedom. They have communities waiting to welcome them, and there is no reason — especially during a pandemic — not to release parents with their children.

*Pseudonym

⬇ Make Your Voice Heard ⬇

Deputy Field Office Direc

Deborah

Achim

Deputy Field Office Director

ICE Acting Director Pham

Tony

Pham

ICE

Field Office Director

Simon

Flores

ICE ,ERO

Dear Acting Director Pham, Deputy Field Office Director Achim, and Field Office Director Flores:

I am deeply concerned about the  families who are detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center and Berks County Family Residential Center and face imminent deportation. The U.S. government is under the obligation not to return individuals to a situation in which they would be at risk of torture or other serious human rights abuses.

These children and parents came to the U.S. after fleeing from horrific violence, persecution, and other severe human rights abuses in their home countries. They came to the U.S. simply seeking protection and must be allowed to pursue the right to seek asylum here in safety.

Furthermore, with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the South Texas Family Residential Center, Berks County Family Residential Center, and Karnes County Family Residential Center, and  inadequate protective measures in place to protect families detained there, I am deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the dozens of families in immigration detention.

Amnesty International has received credible, consistent, and disturbing accounts of dangerous conditions in detention that put all families, like Ana* and Victoria* detained in Dilley, at risk. These families face grave complications and even death if exposed to the virus. Many are at exceptional risk due to their age or serious medical needs.

Parents must be released with their children, to preserve family unity.  ICE has the legal authority and discretionary power to release families together and has historically done so.

I call on you to immediately:

- Halt the imminent deportation of these families at Berks and Dilley; and
- Release Ana and Victoria and all families from immigration detention together so they can pursue their right to seek asylum in safety.

Please act quickly before it is too late.

Sincerely,

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

*Pseudonym

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