We expect that you have seen or heard many of the horrific stories about the plight of children and families separated at our border. You may be as heartbroken and outraged as we are about the thousands of children who remain separated from their families, and the continuing efforts to imprison children.
The Alliance for Children’s Rights has long fought to ensure that young people have critical supports when they are removed from their parents. We know from our decades of work that there is nothing more traumatic for a child than being removed from his or her parent. Removal of a child from his or her parents should occur only if it is in the child’s interest, to protect that child from abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Coming to the United States – escaping violence or fleeing danger in one’s home country – is not grounds for separation. Separation of children from their parents is not a legitimate tool to be used by our government to penalize families who attempt to immigrate.
We condemn and reproach government immigration policies that separate families, persecute them for seeking asylum in the United States, or place children in detention facilities.
We stand with countless organizations and individuals nationwide, in calling for families to be reunited and to prohibit detention of children. Nothing can redress the emotional trauma experienced by children who have been forcibly removed from their parents, and we call on the government to immediately reunify these families as an act of decency and as a moral imperative. Moreover, policies must be adopted to ensure that children remain with their families outside of detention facilities.
The Alliance will continue to provide free legal services to children and families in Los Angeles who are in need and in foster care. The Alliance also stands ready to help connect the children who have been separated from their families and ended up in Los Angeles County with healthcare resources and education supports. We also will fight to ensure that temporary caregivers receive appropriate benefits while the children wait to be reunified with their families. Thank you for standing with us,
Jennifer L. Braun
President and CEO
