We must keep our promises on refugees
More than 600 children are missing their parents. The U.S. split thousands of migrant families, deporting the parents back across the border and leaving hundreds of young children separated from their moms and dads.
Children, as young as two, are being sent to court alone for judges to decide whether they should be allowed to stay in this country. Children who should be in school and having fun. Not in prisons with foil blankets.
Non-refoulement is an international principle which states that governments cannot turn away refugees or those who seek asylum if they face persecution in their home countries. This is integral to international refugee law set by the United Nations, yet the U.S. is not abiding by it.
The UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child states that every child has a right to be loved by parents and society and to protection against exploitation and abuse. The U.S. is not abiding by this, either. In fact, our country is denying these inalienable rights to hundreds of children.
How can you justify taking away the youngest and most vulnerable from their families? I know that every mother understands how deeply other mothers love their children, how every father understands how deeply other fathers love their children.
We have to push the government to protect immigrant children and prioritize the reunification of families immediately. Please urge every policymaker and elected official to take these actions:
Restore and expand access to legal services and direct representation for children. Restore access to asylum and refugee resettlement. End all information-sharing practices where children's information is used against them.
I urge you to fight this fight, to make sure America is living up to its words of being the land of opportunity, equality, and freedom.
Erin Yoo
Vernon Hills