Take Action Against Indefinite Child Detention

Families seeking safety and asylum at our southern border are currently being separated. While that is horrible enough, the White House is seeking to implement an even-worse plan.

The Trump Administration is currently attempting to replace a family-separation policy rejected nationwide with indefinite child and family detention, which would subject children to further trauma and abuse.

Take Action!

You can help stop this proposal. The proposed rule would do the following if passed:

• End the Flores Settlement Agreement (FSA) which for decades set basic standards of care for the safety and human rights of children in the federal government’s custody. Under the FSA, the U.S. government cannot detain children indefinitely in prison-like conditions. In practice, families were generally reunited and released from facilities within 20 days. The Trump Administration wants to keep children behind bars without any time limit.
  
• Dismantle the safety licenses for facilities holding children. The rule would allow the Trump Administration to self-license any jail or prison facility and detain children indefinitely in dangerous conditions. Currently, facilities must be specifically certified to process and detain children to maintain minimum standards of care. Many unlicensed facilities are not even suitable for adults and especially not children, yet the proposal would jail children in these detention centers with no restrictions.

• Allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reevaluate and determine whether a child is unaccompanied even after their asylum case has begun, which would subject children to harsh interrogation by DHS without the help of a lawyer.

The federal government already has a poor track record with keeping children safe from abuses while in detention facilities. All children currently separated should be reunited with their caretakers and loved ones. Families should not be separated nor indefinitely detained. Instead, families fleeing violence should be treated with dignity and released together to live in safe communities while their asylum claims are processed to better ensure safe living conditions.

Children do not belong behind bars, they belong in their parents’ arms. Families Belong Together.

Speak out: Submit a Public Comment to oppose jailing children.

The last day to make your voice heard against this inhumane proposed rule is Tuesday, November 6th.

What are public comments? When a federal agency proposes a rule change, they ask for public input for 60 days after posting the proposal before they can finalize the rule.

Your voice matters. Submit a short comment by November 6. All public comments are taken into account before the rule is finalized. You have until November 6th to let your opinion be heard by the Department of Homeland Security.