How To Help Migrant Children Caught In The Detention Center Crisis

In April 2018, the New York Times reported that the Trump Administration had for months been separating migrant families arriving at or crossing the U.S. Border without documentation. Several were legally seeking asylum from Central American countries like Guatemala and Honduras, where violence has threatened the lives of millions of people. Children were removed from their families, some days for months and potentially years because the administration did not prepare to reunite them. And while Trump reversed the family-separation aspect of his so-called “zero tolerance” policy in June of last year, new reports from detention facilities at the U.S./Mexico border revealed that the practice was still ongoing — to catastrophic results. A June 22, 2019 report from the Houston Chronicle noticed that the Trump administration separated at least 700 children from their families in the year that came right following the President reversed the family-separation policy in June 2018.


To be clear, detention facilities are not a Trump administration invention; they have existed for years. In 2014, while in the Obama administration, an 11-year-old named Mayeli Hernández told journalist Aura Bogado what it looked like being detained inside one of the hieleras — one of the facilities nicknamed ice boxes by both the guards and detainees due to the freezing temperatures; her experience was not unlike what hundreds of children are facing right now. Hernández and her sister had crossed the border as unaccompanied minors; both children like them and those who have been separated from their families by the Trump administration  have been contained in horrific conditions, nevertheless recent reports from Vice, the Associated Press, the New Yorker, and the New York Times have eventually made those conditions public to a widespread audience. All the stories detail the ways in which children are kept in overcrowded facilities; in conditions that keep them from sleeping; without the ability to brush their teeth, shower, or access tidy clothes or diapers; and are often forced to look immediately after one another. Some of those have been there for weeks.


“I need comfort, too,” a 14-year-old, who'd been tasked by the guards with looking immediately after toddlers, instructed them AP in a story published June 21. “I am bigger than they are, although I am a child, too.”


Since the reports came out, the administration has reportedly begun moving children between facilities, although it’s unclear any time as soon as they are going to be released, or perhaps reunited with their families. At least seven children who were in or were recently released from government custody have died, and experts warn that more are prone to similar fates.


All of this has lead to a new wave of outrage by people looking for a way to help. Here’s how you could get involved:


Donate.


in the event if you've the means, you could donate to any one of the companies helping to sound the alarm, along with directly help the children being contained in the detention centers. Several people have sounded the call to donate to RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services in Texas. The sort has seen an influx of support in the past year, yet their work isn’t over — and they’re not alone. You could also donate to groups like Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, the Texas Civil Rights Project, the Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee, and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. You could find other groups doing the work at the Texas/Mexico border here; the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has also created a list of corporations to support.


According to the Texas Tribune, people who are showing up to detention facilities with supplies like diapers and toothbrushes can often being turned away. Other groups that are actually serious about helping migrant people, like Casa Alitas in Tucson, Arizona, do accept donations of goods; call the agency before you show up, and ask what supplies they require most. You could find organizations near you here.


Get involved in your community.


“One really critical thing is for people to know what is in your community, know who is doing the work there, and plug in and ask them what you could do,” Zenén Jaimes Pérez, the advocacy director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, tells MTV News. “I can guarantee you they are going to give work in the event you desire to do it.”  He recommends searching for immigrant-serving companies and legal clinics in your area, several of whom will be planning events, protests, or outreach that you could get involved with.


because the Cut reports, several businesses especially welcome work from volunteers who have legal backgrounds and can speak Spanish. Some groups, like Kids in Need of Defense, will train people who are looking to help. While the Trump administration is attempting to prosecute volunteers who leave supplies like water and clothing in the desert for migrants in need, groups like the Border Angels are undeterred from the scare tactics.


you could also search for Know Your Rights trainings being contained in your area, to better inform yourself on how to practice safe bystander intervention, or share the statistics with people you know who may need it. According to the ACLU, nearly two-thirds of the American population lives within 100 miles of a US border, which is where corporations like Customs and Border Protection can stop or search people — and the more each person understands about the rights granted to their neighbors, the better.


Spread information.


Compounding fears last week were reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement were set to start raids in major U.S. Cities as early as Saturday, June 22; according to reports, President Donald Trump called the raids off before they started. Still, the experience has understandably made several immigrants all the more scared to leave their homes. Several people have begun sharing checklists and Know Your Rights data on social media.


According to Pérez, this sort of signal boosting is deeply key, even if some people who need it aren’t on social media themselves. “Even in the event you never fall into a directly affected category, if you’re able to speak about provide, in the event you know a little more about what is happening, that accommodates in a broader objective of people understanding the opaqueness of the immigration system,” he says. He also recommends writing organizational data down so that you have it if you’re asked by someone in need of free legal suggestions or a similar issue.


Hold your lawmakers accountable.


you could check sites like 5 Calls, which will give you contact intelligence for your senators and congresspeople, and also an easy-to-follow script. The ACLU also provides its own script if you’d like to lobby your representatives not to give more cash to the Department of Homeland Security.


Sharing your outrage on social media can also help. Lawmakers might not directly be obligated to listen to tweets, nevertheless public outrage and protest is powerful; in case you are not physically able to attend a protest, signal-boosting intelligence online and holding people accountable can make a large difference.


Remember the humanity of the people subjected to these conditions. 


It’s also critical to remember that words matter — and can either weaponize or humanize the actions of people who have often been put in impossible situations.


Several groups are calling for people to stop using the term “illegal immigrant,” which immediately vilifies people who cross the border without prior documentation. Some days, that’s exactly what they’re supposed to do: Undocumented migrants seeking asylum can only do so once indoor in the country’s borders, also it is entirely within their legal rights to do so.


“The system is set up to dehumanize folks,” Pérez points out. “That is why folks are given A-numbers, where your alien [registration number] is your identification any time as soon as you are in the system. For us it is really key you put names and stories to those A-numbers, or else people would just be ground up in the machine. Piece of our humanity is that we need to create ensure we are preventing that, and making sure we are telling the stories of people so that we can fight for them.”


Vote.


Your ballot might not include any measures that explicitly refer to the border crisis, however the people you put in office can impact legislation and future mobilization. Check your voter registration status, and find out any time your next local election is set to take place.


It’s also key to vet candidates and hold them accountable to issuing actionable and comprehensive plans involving immigration reform and rehabilitation for the people affected in this crisis. You could view plans and proposals by presidential candidates here.


“This is a long fight, and it’s going to need a lot of attention plus a lot of input from people,” Pérez says. “It isn't an easy fix and it also is going to take all of us to understand and know what sort of values we really hope to stay in. The more light we can lose, the more advantageous it will be for future efforts.”