Webinar- The Kids Are Not Alright: How Border Policies Continue to Separate Families and Harm Children

On Thursday, October 7, Young Center staff, volunteers, and supporters gathered for a webinar featuring Young Center partners The Angry Tias & Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley and Aldea-The People's Justice Center. The webinar highlighted each organization’s work to support families seeking protection at the U.S.-Mexico border and those in immigration detention. Adriana Zambrano from Aldea-The People's Justice Center contrasted the Biden administration’s promise to welcome asylum-seeking families with its decision to contract with the  Berks County Family Detention Center (BCRC) in Pennsylvania to jail asylum-seeking women . Just last year, Young Center supporters joined the Shut Down Berks Coalition to advocate against family detention and for the closure of this facility.

“This is problematic because let’s recall Berks’s history of medical neglect, terrible food, punitive measure against the mothers who spoke up against the conditions at the detention center, and the rape that occurred there. Truly, it’s dangerous for women to be brought to this place,” Andrea said urging people to join the effort to #ShutDownBerks once and for all.

Aldea is seeking volunteers-lawyers, paralegals, law students, and interpreters-to serve families who lack representation while facing immigration detention. Click here to fill in a volunteer interest form for ALDEA.

Young Center Child Advocate Program Co-Director Olivia Peña, who has worked closely with The Angry Tias and Abuelas of the RGV over the years spoke about the organization’s essential work to welcome those seeking safety at our border. The Angry Tias and Abuelas’ mission is to provide basic necessities for health and safety and support for human dignity and justice to individuals and families seeking asylum at our borders and as they embark on their journeys to designated destinations in the United States. The organization has been serving some of the many families forced to stay in Mexico under Title 42, a policy used to deny families their legal right to seek asylum in the United States under the pretext of protecting public health. Click here to learn more about Title 42.

“What we are seeing at the border is a replication of what we saw in 2018,” Olivia Peña said about the lack of change at the border under the Biden administration. “We’re seeing families that are struggling with finding a safe place to sleep while they wait for an opportunity to seek asylum in the United States. We are seeing children facing the difficult decision of staying with their families or trying to come to the United States alone so they can seek legal protection. What we are seeing is that Title 42 is forcing families into separation.”

Young Center Senior Litigation Attorney Jane Liu discussed ongoing litigation around Title 42 and the Trump Administration’s Remain in Mexico policy, which has forced tens of thousands of families to remain in dangerous conditions in Mexico while they await asylum hearings in the United States. Click here to learn about some of the children impacted by this harmful policy.

“The District Court Judge has barred the application if Title 42 to families twice. Despite this, the Biden administration has stuck by Title 42 and appealed the district court’s ruling. The government’s first step needs to be to end Title 42 for all groups. It’s really important for the Biden administration to understand that it’s not sufficient to end Title 42 for unaccompanied children. Title 42 harms children, even if they are exempt from it because their families are impacted by it.”

The Biden administration suspended new enrollments in the Remain in Mexico policy and decided to terminate the policy in June 2021. However, thousands of families and children remain stranded and forced to brave threats of violence and dangerous conditions in Mexico in order to pursue their claims for protection. Worse yet, earlier this year Texas and Missouri sued the Biden Administration, challenging its decision to end Remain in Mexico. And so, the legal battle to end the policy continues. In September, in collaboration with a coalition of immigrant and children’s rights organizations, the Young Center filed an amicus brief in support of the government’s decision to end Remain in Mexico.

“As it stands right now, the Biden administration is appealing the district courts’ decision but based on the injunction, they also have to make a good faith effort to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy. The Biden administration has filed documents with the court indicating such efforts, including creating structures for tent court hearings, etc. We are very concerned about the possibility of this harmful policy starting again and we are calling on the Biden administration to do everything they can to not re-start it.”

Wrapping up the webinar, Young Center Policy Analyst Robert Cotter summarized some of the ways in which people can get involved in the fight for the rights of immigrant children and families.

“Raise your concerns about the treatment of children and families. Call on the Biden administration to end Title 42, because this policy is not in line with the Biden administration’s promises and with our laws. Join us in calling for bolstering funding for case management and access to counsel for children and families, instead of building a system based in detention. Call your representatives and voice your support for protecting and expanding the right to seek asylum.”