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#5Actions on Family Separation to Take NOW

June 28, 2018
Karen Showalter's picture
Karen Showalter
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Families belong together. Taking kids away from their parents is traumatizing and immoral. This week our #5Actions list focuses on impactful actions you can take around family separation and detention. The timing could not be more urgent.

Thank you to everyone who spoke up on behalf of asylum-seeking families at the border so far! The failure of damaging immigration legislation to pass Congress this week, and also the Executive Order (EO), proves that the voices of moms, dads and people are powerful. But this EO does not stop the Trump administration from continuing human rights abuses, like imprisoning entire families, in the name of immigration enforcement -- so we will continue to keep our voices raised, our calls going into Congress, and our letter writing, petition signing and rallying at full throttle. Imprisoning children with their families is still imprisoning children; and there’s still no stated plan to re-unite children with their families. The moms and people of America have zero-tolerance for Trump’s human rights abuses.

We can’t let the pressure up! Here are five ways you can make your voice heard right now. Also be sure to scroll down for a hot action around protecting SNAP, too. Thank you! 

1. Reach Out to Your Elected Officials

Lawmakers can and should take the lead in calling out this inhumane policy. Has your elected official spoken out against family separation and detention? Use our call in tool to be connected with your member of Congress by dialing (855) 440-1800. When connected, you can say something like:

I am very upset that our government is still imprisoning children. Imprisoning children with their parents is still imprisoning children! I ask you to stand up against this cruel policy, stop funding it, and demand that the administration implements alternatives to these policies right away.

As you reach out to elected officials, it’s important to reinforce that this problem can and should be fixed administratively.

Download this helpful fact sheet from our partners at the Women’s Refugee Commission to take to your members of Congress office.

For information in Spanish please check out https://www.facebook.com/MamasConPoder/ 

 

 


2. Visit your Elected Officials' Offices

Lawmakers depend on contact from their constituents to gauge what people in their districts care about, which is why you dropping by in-person will make a strong impression. This is a critical time for them to hear from you about the need to stand up for immigrant children and families. Download the MomsRising’s Keep Marching toolkit for guidance on planning a meeting with your elected officials (pages 9 to 11). Some potential talking points:
  • Ask your lawmakers to speak out against the Trump administration’s intentional policy of detaining asylum seeking families if they’ve not already, and thank them if they have been vocal.
  • Call on Congress to stop funding family detention and for them to demand that the administration ends this policy right away.
  • Ask them to visit the United States border to experience first-hand what is happening to asylum seeking families. 
  • Ask them to also visit the courtrooms where children sit before an immigration judge, by themselves, without a lawyer, to understand the obstacles and trauma that children in the immigration system face.
You don’t need to be a policy expert to visit the offices of your elected officials. Check out some helpful additional resources and talking points on the MomsRising blog. 
 

 


3. Volunteer Locally

Family separation doesn’t just happen at the United States border, immigrant families in every state have been torn apart. Additionally, with thousands of children separated from their parents at the border, children from asylum-seeking families were sent across the country and need support. You can support lawyers and advocates on the front lines by volunteering with:

Many cities and states have local organizations that provide legal support to immigrants. Do an online search for “free legal help for immigrants in (your state)” to discover your local organizations, and donate and volunteer to support their efforts. 

For lawyers who are in direct contact with families, Women’s Refugee Commission has resources to support families experiencing separation, in both English and Spanish. 

 

 



4. Join Protests and Other On-the-Ground Actions 

Visit the Families Belong Together website to find the latest information for on-the-ground and local actions.
 


5. Donate a Onesie!
Help MomsRising form a massive chain of “Keep Families Together” ONEsies at the Families Belong Together rally on June 30th in Washington D.C. and at additional rallies across the nation in coming weeks. Donate one for $10, five for $50, or 25 for $250 -- whatever you can afford! Don't want to fund a onesie, but still want to support our work on immigration with a donation? Donate here instead! * Note: Our printing deadline for display at rallies next weekend is MONDAY - Please don’t wait!

 

Bonus Action: Speak out for SNAP 

The U.S. Senate, led by Senators Debbie Stabenow (MI-D) and Pat Roberts (KS-R), introduced a bi-partisan Farm Bill, which not only protects SNAP but also creates positive policy for farmers, the environment, families, and our economy. Exactly what a Farm Bill should do! The U.S. Senate is expected to vote next week on their good bill. We want to send a strong message to our elected leaders that we want them to reject any negative amendments that would take food out of hungry families’ refrigerators or create overly onerous barriers to accessing nutrition. Let's keep the momentum going in this direction! The Senate will be voting on their Farm Bill next week and we need YOU to speak out. ***Sign our letter NOW telling U.S. Senators to support the good Farm Bill and reject harmful amendments that would impact struggling families and our economy!

 
Thank you for all you do, and #KeepMarching! 

P.S. This list is also on the MomsRising.org blog here. Be sure to share the link with family and friends! 

P.P.S. Read more about alternatives to detention here. 

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of MomsRising.org.

MomsRising.org strongly encourages our readers to post comments in response to blog posts. We value diversity of opinions and perspectives. Our goals for this space are to be educational, thought-provoking, and respectful. So we actively moderate comments and we reserve the right to edit or remove comments that undermine these goals. Thanks!