Background
More than 5,000 children were forcibly and unlawfully taken from their parents at our borders under the Trump administration. Today, thousands remain separated and even for those who’ve had support from the Young Center, the journey ahead is difficult and uncertain. We must ensure family separation is never again used as a tool to deter migration.
You have the chance to raise your voice and make a difference. The Department of Homeland Security is seeking public comments on how the government can prevent family separation at our borders from happening again.
In recent days, people have flooded the government’s website with hateful messages supporting family separation and demanding that the government do nothing to help the thousands of families torn apart by immigration officials. We need advocates for children to respond with equal (or greater) force. Please join the Young Center in submitting a comment to demand that the government: 1) ensure family separation never happens again, and 2) provide protection, permanence, and services for separated families.
Take a stand: Submit a comment now
Click here to submit a comment before Tuesday, January 25, 2022, at 11:59 pm EST. Here’s an alternative link if the first one doesn’t open quickly.
The government will only consider unique comments, so it is important to put your thoughts into your own words. Below is sample language—a “comment template”—that you can use to create your own comment. We encourage you to revise the template to highlight your own concerns and include any experiences, perspectives, and values that inform your opinions. Please remember that if you have served as a Young Center Child Advocate you cannot share children’s stories, though you may discuss how volunteering as a Child Advocate has impacted you.
Comment Template:
Ending family separation at our borders and protecting the families torn apart by the Trump Administration are important to me because I believe it’s time for the United States government to correct its history of separating families of color at and within our borders. The Trump administration’s illegal family separation policies disproportionately impacted Indigenous families seeking protection at our borders. The harm to the health, well-being, identity, and cultural memory of families and children is undeniable. Forced separation is a form of torture, as multiple organizations have reported to the U.S. government and to international authorities. The Biden administration has a moral and legal responsibility to prevent family separation by immigration authorities at any time. It must also ensure all separated families have the chance to reunify, to obtain permanent protection, and to access the services both children and their parents need to recover from the harm our government perpetrated against them.
This issue is personal to me because [add your own language here, connecting the issue to your own family, community, or experiences].
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Your support makes our advocacy for ending family separation at the border and protecting immigrant children possible. Please consider donating to the Young Center's work here.