People hold signs to protest against President Donald Trump’s executive order to detain children crossing the southern US border and separating families.(Reuters / Patrick T. Fallon)
In just five weeks, federal immigration authorities separated more than 2,300 children from their parents as part of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy. Toddlers have been ripped from their parents’ arms, kids are being kept in cages, and parents who traveled thousands of miles to find safety are left not knowing how they will be reunited with their children.
This week’s Take Action Now focuses on what you can do to join the fight against this inhumane policy. Take Action Now gives you three meaningful actions you can take each week, whatever your schedule. Sign up here to get actions like these in your inbox every Tuesday.
One of the most direct ways to help is to give to local organizations that are providing legal representation and other resources for separated and detained families. A few at the border are the Florence Project, La Unión del Pueblo Entero, RAICES and the Texas Civil Rights Project. It’s also crucially important to support local, immigrant-led organizations in your area that are fighting the separation of families both at the border and through detention and deportation across the country. You can find many of them here and here.
The Trump administration could end the separation of families at the border immediately. Instead, the president has boasted about using traumatized children as leverage in his quest to pass draconian anti-immigrant legislation—and Congress is planning to vote on two such bills this week. Call Congress at (202) 224-3121 and demand that they reject any legislation that threatens to ramp up enforcement and deportations, and that they instead fight to end family separation. You can find more information about the bills in Congress here, here, and here.
In the coming weeks, there will be multiple opportunities to take to the streets or otherwise show up to demand an end to this horrific practice. The ACLU is calling for people across the country to head to Brownsville, Texas, on June 28 to protest at the border. Then on June 30, people will rally in Washington, DC and around the country. If you have even more time, you can sign up to volunteer either at the border itself (you can sign up with the Texas Civil Rights Project or RAICES) or by reaching out to an organization near you. There are more protests and volunteer opportunities every day so be sure to check out the hashtag #FamiliesBelongTogether to stay up-to-date.
NationActionThe Nation’s Take Action program directs readers to meaningful actions on a range of critical issues.