MEDIA

As a community of more than 40 organizations who work on behalf of children, we unite today to demand an end to attacks on immigrant children and to correct dangerous misinformation campaigns about migrant children and their families at the border and within the United States. Together, we are working to create policies that recognize the humanity and dignity of immigrant children—a system where children are valued, not targeted or vilified.

“Title 42 puts children directly in harm’s way, by allowing federal officials to send any child who arrives with a parent right back to the very danger they just fled. No wonder parents then send their children back to the border alone to seek protection. Title 42 continues the horrifying practice of family separation at the very time the Biden administrations’ Family Reunification Task Force is trying to remedy for families separated by the prior administration. Despite a change in leadership, our immigration policies continue to fail children and violate international human rights law, as well as our own,” said Young Center Policy Director Jennifer Nagda.

Today, the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights announced the inaugural cohort of fellows in the Elizabeth Frankel Fellowship Program. The Fellowship was created to honor the memory of the organization’s former Associate Director, a staunch child rights advocate, and to train a new generation of attorneys to fight for the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children.

"Uncertainty around one’s immigration status, especially for young people who must plan for the critical years of transition between childhood and adulthood without their parents, it is outright stressful on one’s inner resources, not to mention outright debilitating to one’s ability to forge a path forward with access to equal opportunity. For all the young people who currently have SIJ Status, I am relieved and grateful for their ability to move beyond the fear that surrounds uncertainty. Today is a new dawn for them."

“This barrage of anti-child, anti-immigrant fearmongering serves no one. It doesn’t serve our communities or strengthen our economy. It instills unnecessary fear in our neighborhoods, prevents children from reuniting with their families, and undermines the legal process for children to seek safety in the United States,” Young Center Executive Director Gladis Molina Alt said.

On December 9, 2021, The Society of American Law Teachers posthumously honored Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights’ Associate Director Elizabeth Frankel with the M. Shanara Gilbert Human Rights Award. The award recognizes the contributions of individuals or groups who are tireless advocates for social justice, human rights, equality, and justice.

"This Fellowship is something Liz would've wanted—an opportunity for law students to learn to advocate zealously and effectively for immigrant children and families."

“We’re deeply grateful that Senator Hirono introduced the Fairy Day in Court for Kids Act and for her steadfast leadership on behalf of all children. Her bill will ensure no child faces immigration court alone by guaranteeing attorneys for all unaccompanied children and requiring the appointment of Child Advocates for vulnerable children.”

A coalition of immigrant and children’s rights organizations including the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights filed an amicus brief in the appeal before the 5th Circuit in support of the government’s decision to terminate the so-called Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico policy, focusing on the harm to children caused by MPP.

“Refugees at our borders have risked everything to find safety and to rebuild their lives. They have a legal right to seek protection from persecution and the United States government has a moral and legal obligation to ensure they can do so in a fair and humane manner. The abhorrent conditions both Haitians and Central Americans have been forced to tolerate along the border are the antithesis of a fair and welcoming process.”

"Young Center Child Advocates were appointed to hundreds of children taken from their parents during ‘Zero Tolerance’ and saw firsthand the devastating impact of family separation. International accountability through the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is a critical tool for ensuring that the U.S. government is never again able to engage in an intentional violation of children’s and parents’ rights—the right to family integrity—by separating them to advance a political agenda.”