Sign the petition: Stop tearing kids away from immigrant parents

Children as young as 2-years-old are being separated from their parents at the border. Halt this cruel, destructive, and inhumane treatment of innocent children and their families.

Dear MoveOn member, 

There's been a huge outcry over the last few days in response to new reports of children forcibly separated from their parents at the United States-Mexico border—and one top official admitted that the Department of Health and Human Services has lost track of nearly 1,500 immigrant children who were taken by U.S. authorities.¹

This is horrific. And the heightened wave of media attention means that now we may be able to force changes to be made.

The human rights of all children and families must be protected. Will you sign this petition and demand that the Department of Homeland Security stop separating families and ensure the protection of the safety and well-being of all children, with no exceptions?

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Email sent to MoveOn members on May 11, 2018.

Dear MoveOn member,

This Sunday is Mother's Day, but many moms won't be near their children. That's because the Trump administration is forcibly separating families at our southern border—about 700 children, including 100 under the age of four, since October.² 

What's more, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will be formally prosecuting adults and separating families who arrive at our southern border.³ This is outrageous. We can't let this policy move forward, and we need your support to tell Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Will you speak up for mothers, fathers, and families and sign this petition to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen? 

Secretary Nielsen, abandon the cruel, costly, and unjustified practice of separating families seeking protection at our borders, including those who are fleeing persecution in their home countries. Children belong with their parents in safe communities, not locked up in detention centers.

There's no justification for this practice. These families and children aren't threats to our safety. They're often fleeing unspeakable violence and persecution in their home countries. Many are from Central America and some of the most dangerous countries in the world.

The administration has claimed that they must separate children from their parents to protect them. But policies exist for protecting children, and separating them from their parents is not the way. There's no security crisis. Border apprehensions are at decades-low levels, according to the government's own data.

It's cruel to punish parents who are doing everything they can to protect their children and to punish children by depriving them of their parents. Separating a child from a mother or father only leads to more trauma for all. Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare.

Sign the petition demanding DHS stop separating families at the border.

DHS shouldn't play politics with families to try to discourage people from seeking protection, and there's no legal basis for doing so. Family unity is one of our core values and is reflected in our laws. Our government has a responsibility under U.S. immigration law to hear a person's immigration or asylum case, not to try to scare them away from asking for help. Doing so puts these families at extremely high risk of experiencing further rights violations.

Separating families or keeping them locked up in detention is NOT a solution. It won't make us safer or stop people from seeking protection when they have no other option. It's not who we are.

Sign this petition to tell Secretary Nielsen to stop separating families at the border once and for all. Children belong with their parents in safe communities, not locked up in detention centers. We are better than this. 

This Sunday celebrates family and love, but for many, these are threatened beyond their control.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

—Lily Folkerts, Latin American Working Group

This petition is sponsored by Al Otro Lado, Alianza Americas, Amnesty International USA, Kids in Need of Defense, Latin America Working Group, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, MomsRising, National Immigrant Justice Center, and Women's Refugee Commission.

Sources:

1. "America's missing children: Over 1,000 immigrant minors have vanished since October," Salon, May 25, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/40017?t=19&akid=207854%2E10220574%2EhdEJWK

2. "Hundreds of Immigrant Children Have Been Taken From Parents at U.S. Border," The New York Times, April 20, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/39189?t=21&akid=207854%2E10220574%2EhdEJWK

3. "Sessions: Parents, children entering U.S. illegally will be separated," NBC News, May 7, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/39108?t=23&akid=207854%2E10220574%2EhdEJWK

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

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Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. This email was sent to Eddie Alfaro on May 28th, 2018. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.