Continue supporting immigrant and refugee families

The situation for migrant children and families on our borders is worsening.

In May, we learned about even more migrant children dying while detained in US custody. According to Families Belong Together, 7 children have now died while in custody or shortly after their release. Adults are also dying in custody, with three adults, including a transgender woman, dying in three days in early June.

Multiple sources (including the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General) have detailed overcrowding and poor conditions at detention centers near the border. In El Paso, a processing center designed to hold 125 migrants had a population between 750-900 people. Detainees were observed standing on toilets to gain breathing space and were wearing "soiled clothing for days or weeks." In May, tents were set up to hold detained families in McAllen, Brownsville, and Rio Grande City.

Closer to home, families are still being held at the Berks County Detention Center in Pennsylvania despite ongoing petitions to Governor Wolf and others about the conditions at the Center. Rewire News published an article on families in isolation at Berks, while PRI's The World covered it last year.

Take Action on these issues and others related to immigration:

• RAICES Texas has a petition asking the Department of Homeland Security to stop detaining babies and families. 
• Families Belong Together has a petition asking the Administration to stop separating newborns from their mothers.
• Submit public comments on HUD regulations that would force families with mixed immigration status living in public housing to separate or be evicted.
• Support permanent protections for undocumented youth and people with Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure.
• HIAS has an ongoing list of actions you can take, including contacting your legislators and confronting misinformation about refugees. 
• Shut Down Berks continues to hold call-in days to ask Governor Wolf, Lieutenant Governor Fetterman, and PA DHS Secretary Miller to close down the Berks Center.