June 16, 2020
The undersigned 122 organizations strongly oppose recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) measures that threaten the safety and family unity of vulnerable immigrant children. DHS appears to have disregarded the lessons of 2018, when its family separation policy split thousands of children from their parents, inflicted enduring damage on separated kids, and spurred bipartisan outrage. Under cover of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department has redoubled its efforts to undo legal protections that keep kids safe and families together. By expelling arriving unaccompanied children, deporting unaccompanied children already living within the U.S. without required court proceedings, and reviving family separation at detention centers, it is once again causing kids profound suffering and disturbing the nation’s conscience. We urge DHS to end these destructive policies immediately.
