Take Action for Human Rights

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

Deputy Field Office Direc
Deborah
Achim
Deputy Field Office Director
ICE Acting Director Pham
Tony
Pham
ICE
Field Office Director
Simon
Flores
ICE ,ERO