5 Ways to Help Immigrant Families From Being Separated at the Border
Immigrant rights advocates are sick of the non-stop barrage of nightmarish news in the headlines — families are getting separated at the border, 1,500 kids are (mostly) unaccounted for — so they’re dedicating June 1 as the National Day of Action for Children.
Action level: Trending issue.
Top Trump officials are the ones who implemented these new policies in the first place, so they alone have the immediate power to reverse them. But given the administration’s track record on immigration enforcement, and lack of concern over separating families (or “whatever”), it would likely take a heroic amount of public pressure to force a change of course — that’s where you come in.
Here are five steps you can take to help immigrant kids and families at the border, ranging from a small amount of effort to pounding the pavement in demand of change.
HTH IRL: Dozens of events are planned around the country for June 1. You can find one near you here.
Seven groups are coordinating the day’s actions — National Domestic Workers Alliance, We Belong Together, ACLU, United We Dream, MomsRising, MoveOn, Women's Refugee Commission
The absolute minimal amount of effort: Add your name to this petition calling on the Trump administration to immediately end its practice of tearing immigrant kids away from their parents.
Or sign this petition directed to Ivanka Trump, who has promised that women’s empowerment is, like, her thing.
This will take like five minutes: Urge Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to lay off the kids 202.282.8000, and while you’re at it, dial up Attorney General Jeff Sessions 202.353.1555 and ask him to prove he has a real, human heart.
You can also call your senator and demand that they pressure DHS to change its policy. The ACLU has a handy script that you can follow.
Follow the signs: #FamiliesBelongTogether, #WhereAreTheChildren, #EndFamilySeparation, #KeepFamiliesTogether
🤑🤑🤑: The Florence Project, based in Arizona, helps provide legal and social services for immigrant families intercepted at the border. You can donate directly to them here.
Or, donate to a consortium of national immigration groups here. This allows you to dictate the amount that each group gets from your donation.
Go Deeper
There’s a lot of confusion about whether 1,500 kids were actually “lost” by the Trump administration. WaPo has a fact-check on what’s behind the policy and outrage.
It seems like everyone has been sharing this clip from MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, who dives deep into the problem.
This isn’t just a problem with the Trump’s penchant for anti-immigrant zeal. As I wrote three years ago, it was the Obama administration that resurrected the hugely controversial practice of opening new detention centers lock up immigrant women and kids.
What Else We’re Reading:
BuzzFeed has a devastating story on a transgender immigrant who died in ICE custody after participating in the migrant caravan earlier this month.
“Zero-Tolerance” mass-trials are criminalizing immigrant crossings at the border at alarming rates, The Intercept reports.
