Family Separation at the US Border - What can you do?

Many New Yorkers have spent the last few weeks wondering what they can do to voice their outrage at the policy of separating immigrant children from their mothers and fathers. On Father’s Day, it was revealed that nearly 2,000 children had been taken from their parents in the six week period between April 19th and May 31st of this year.

This document is an aggregate of information put together by partners. For questions about specific events or opportunities please contact the relevant organizers through the links provided.

Here are concrete steps you can take to speak out on this shameful moment in our history (last updated June 24, 2018 @ 08:30PM - new items in yellow highlights):

PLEASE NOTE: We understand - and fully support - the need to voice outrage at these policies. However, recent protests at the shelters have scared the children, who think that the police who show up for crowd control are ICE agents coming to deport them. Please consider the effect on the kids themselves when you choose where to protest.

Jump to:

Attend a Rally

Call Congress

Sign a Petition

Be Vocal on Social Media

Volunteer

Attend a Rally

Several rallies are being planned, keep checking here for details.

Call Congress

The ACLU has a call tool specifically for Senators; the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has a call tool that directs calls, tweets, facebook posts, and emails to all Members of Congress.  Here are a few things to ask for specifically from members of Congress (MOCs):

To support ending family separation (and family detention):

  • Push for an end to the practice of separating and jailing families. Call on President Trump, DHS Secretary Nielsen, and Attorney General Sessions to end family separation and detention through social media, letters, appropriations requirements, and in Congressional hearings.
  • Support an effort to defund family separation in the appropriations context and support decreases in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the  U.S. Attorneys’ Offices within the Department of Justice.
  • Visit CBP facilities, detention centers, and federal courts at the border -- speak firsthand to parents who have been separated from their children and hear their stories.
  • Cosponsor the following legislation:
  • H.R. 2572 - Protect Family Values at the Border Act
  1. New York co-sponsors: Velazquez, Serrano,
  1. New York co-sponsors: Gillibrand, Espaillat (original sponsor)
  1. New York co-sponsors: Gillibrand (original co-sponsor), Crowley, Engel
  • S.3036 -  Keep Families Together Act of 2018
  1. New York co-sponsors: Schumer (original co-sponsor), Gillibrand (original co-sponsor)
  • Appropriations legislation and report language that would prevent blanket and inhumane family separation practices, and track when, where, and how often family separation occurs.

To push back against the two anti-immigrant bills currently up for a vote in Congress:

Sign a Petition

Be Vocal on Social Media

Keep tweeting at @realDonaldTrump and @SecNielsen to stop forcibly separating families. We Belong Together's demands for the Administration can be RT’d here. Ask the administration: what are its plans to reunify the families it has torn apart?

  1. Sample tweets can be found here. Use #FamiliesBelongTogether Graphics.

Volunteer

Catholic Charities Community Services has been working with the children brought to shelters in New York. They will hold a telephonic briefing on Tuesday, June 26 at 4:00 pm.  On the call, they will review how the family separation crisis is unfolding in New York and what you can do to support Catholic Charities.  To receive registration information about the briefing, please complete this brief volunteer survey.

Here are some additional sites with volunteer opportunities: