Earlier this year, we worked with brothers Miguel, 11, and Ramon, 9.* The boys and their father were forced to live in a refugee camp in Juarez under the Trump administration’s dangerous Remain in Mexico program. As they waited for their U.S. immigration court date, they were abducted, robbed at gun point, and left in an unknown area. Following this traumatic incident, Miguel and Ramon's father decided that it was safer for his children to return to the border alone rather than wait in Mexico with him.

Because they were alone—without their father—Miguel and Ramon were taken into government custody and sent to a shelter in the United States, where the Young Center was appointed as their Child Advocate. We helped them avoid being sent right back to Mexico, and equally as important, to reunify with their mother, who lives here. But they remain separated from their father who fought so hard to bring his children to safety.

We’re so glad to have had the opportunity to help Miguel and Ramon. But policies like Remain in Mexico and the administration’s hijacking of the CDC to close the border to asylum-seekers have robbed thousands of children of the opportunity to remain with family and exercise their legal right to seek protection. With your help, we can continue to fight for children and ensure they are not alone as they face these cruel policies. We can also keep fighting for an immigration system that sees and treats children as children first.

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*Children's names changed to protect their privacy.