Caring for children and protecting families are
fundamental American values.
All children, no matter where they or their parents were born, should be protected and given the chance to thrive. Strong families help build stronger, more prosperous communities for everyone.
That means ensuring all children and their families can access the resources they need to live a healthy, stable life. It means creating humane systems that end the harms of immigration raids on children, and keep children and families together and free so every child can grow up safe, supported, and able to reach their full potential.
Why This Work Matters
Nearly one in four children in the United States has at least one immigrant parent, which means the consequences of immigration policy reach deeply into children’s lives and create ripple effects across entire communities.
Across the country, harmful immigration policies are putting children at risk by separating or locking up their families, creating fear and instability, and limiting access to essentials like healthcare, education, food assistance, and housing.
Many of our current immigration policies, including family separation tactics and the use of detention, were intentionally designed to be cruel: to deter parents from bringing or sending their children to safety.
Many people don’t realize that a child’s best interest is often ignored in immigration-related decisions, such as whether to deport a child or their parent, or that our immigration system makes it nearly impossible for millions of immigrants who call the United States home to establish security for themselves or their families.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
It’s important for us as Americans to care for children.
When children are forced to live in fear or separated from their families, communities are harmed. But when families are safe and supported, children and communities thrive.
Our Values
Caring for children and protecting families are fundamental American values. Children & their well-being must come first.
Every child, no matter where they or their parents were born, deserves safety, stability, and the opportunity to thrive.
Protecting children and strengthening families creates stronger, safer, more prosperous communities for everyone.
Our Priorities
-
All children deserve safety. Yet, immigration raids across the country are traumatizing children and destabilizing entire communities. Children have watched their parents be taken away by masked agents at traffic stops or at school drop offs. Teens worry that they will be abducted when they leave their home simply because of the way they look. Some children have watched their friends, classmates, or teachers disappear from their lives.
We can improve our immigration system in a way that reflects our values of protecting children and creates stronger, safer, more prosperous communities for everyone. Schools, childcare centers, health care settings, places of worship, and other places that are critical to kids and families should remain safe spaces, and immigration raids must stop targeting our classmates, teachers, and neighbors.
-
All children belong with their families and in their communities. When a parent is detained or deported, children are thrust into immediate crisis. Young children experience regressions in their development, and older youth are often required to take on adult responsibilities with little guidance or support. Parents in detention are often unable to see their children or make critical decisions about their care, like who will look after them or where they will live. Children have also been pulled from loving homes and held in detention simply because they or their families were targeted for deportation.
We can protect kids, reunite families, and bring our neighbors back home. We can ensure that our immigration policies uphold the well-being and safety of children and keep families together and safe in their communities.
-
All children should be able to access the services and resources they need to thrive. Yet, harmful immigration policies are making it harder for children to access health care, education, food assistance, housing, childcare, and other critical supports simply because of their or their parents’ immigration status. Parents are also concerned about the safety of their personal information when enrolling their children in school and other programs.
Rather than pouring billions of dollars into immigration raids and detention camps that are harming families, we should invest in programs that help keep all our children nourished, healthy, and learning. When all children and families can meet their basic needs, everyone in the community benefits.