“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.”

From September 17 to October 1, Young Center supporters, volunteers, and staff around the country joined the Waymaker Race for Immigrant Children. Around the country, people walked, ran, and rolled in support of the human right to seek safety and raised funds for our work. Young Center Philanthropy Director Birdie Soti reflected on the campaign and moment of solidarity.

“What we are seeing at the border is a replication of what we saw in 2018. We’re seeing families that are struggling with finding a safe place to sleep while they wait for an opportunity to seek asylum in the United States. We are seeing children facing the difficult decision of staying with their families or trying to come to the United States alone so they can seek legal protection. What we are seeing is that Title 42 is forcing families into separation.”

Title 42 was the lynchpin of the prior administration’s anti-immigrant campaign. The pandemic created the opportunity to close the border entirely—in March 2020, the administration announced that it was using a public health law, Title 42, to prevent asylum-seekers from entering the United States. More than a year later, the border remains closed to almost all asylum-seekers under this policy.

“In addition to being among the most vulnerable, children are our future. We need to protect and cherish them. One day in the not too distant future, they will be the ones advocating and protecting us. I believe society has a moral obligation to protect the best interests of children, irrespective of their race, nationality or origin.”

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.

کودکانی که در این مراکز نگهداری می‌شوند، حق دارند توسط والدین، اعضای خانواده که بالاتر از هژده سال سن داشته باشند، و یا حتی دوستان و آشنایان خانواده‌ی شان که بالاتر از هژده سال سن داشته باشند، سپانسر شوند تا از حفاظت و حضانت دفتر اسکان مجدد مهاجرین بیرون گردند

Children in ORR custody have the right to be released from these facilities to parents, adult family members, or adult family friends. These parents, other adult family members, and adult family friends are called “sponsors” by government officials. Here is a brief summary of how children can be sponsored.

“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.”

Over the last few weeks, we've seen thousands of families from Afghanistan begin resettling in the United States. Among those arriving at our airports are unaccompanied children and those who've been separated from their families during the journey. Here is how the Young Center is serving unaccompanied and separated children arriving from Afghanistan.

"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.”

After living with decades of conflict, children and families from Afghanistan are arriving at our airports to find safety. In the last two weeks, the Young Center has received multiple referrals to serve Afghan children who have arrived without a parent or legal guardian and have been placed in federal custody as unaccompanied immigrant children. Join us in serving unaccompanied children.

I signed up to be a volunteer Child Advocate not only because it felt like a tangible way to make a difference in the life of a child or because I come from a family of immigrants. I signed up because we have to look at all children as our own children. If we did that, no child would be unsafe, no child would be denied safety, no child would be left to fend for themselves.

“This policy has trapped more than 70,000 people, including tens of thousands of children in dangerous conditions in northern Mexico while they await hearings on their asylum claims. Children and families subjected to this cruel program not only fled violence in their own countries but were also subjected to new threats to their safety in Mexico, including kidnapping, extortion, and sexual violence,” said Young Center Executive Director Gladis Molina Alt