Photo: Jon Krieg/AFSC

Dear Friends

As President Trump announced in his press conference yesterday, his administration is working on a new plan to detain immigrant families indefinitely. I want to make sure you know there is a public comment period that allows you to weigh in on this cruel proposal – and the deadline is this Tuesday, Nov. 6. If you haven’t already done so (and thank you if you have!), please take a few minutes to make your voice heard.

Tell the government today that it shouldn’t detain immigrant children and families at all.

We know that families belong together – and not in jail. But in recent months, we’ve seen the devastation wrought by the Trump administration’s inhumane immigration policies: Children separated from their parents at the border. Thousands of people funneled into a violent and inhumane detention and deportation system. And now, Trump is using the migrant caravan – which includes many families with children – to fuel support for his anti-immigrant agenda.

Trump’s proposed change would create a system of indefinitely family detention. It would supersede the Flores settlement, a decades-old court agreement that limits how long children can be detained and requires standards of care for detention facilities holding children.

Add your voice to the growing number of people telling the government: Stop detaining immigrant families! Here’s how:

1. Click here to publicly comment on Trump’s proposed rule. It’s titled “Apprehension, Processing, Care, and Custody of Alien Minors and Unaccompanied Alien Children.”

2. Tell the government to reject any regulation that would allow the detention of immigrant children and families. Use your own words and write from your own values and experiences. Here are some points to consider:

• Keeping children in detention causes lasting trauma.
• Detention cannot be carried out humanely.
• Indefinite detention of immigrant families violates human rights, fosters abuse and mistreatment, and is expensive, impractical, and unnecessary.
• Protecting basic human rights is not a loophole.

Comments must be submitted by Tuesday, Nov. 6. Tell the government today: No more family detention.

In solidarity,

Kathryn Johnson
AFSC Policy Advocacy Coordinator