Send a letter to your Member of Congress telling them to END FAMILY DETENTION.

The Trump administration has shamefully revived the practice of family detention despite the overwhelming evidence of its harm to children and families. Just weeks into this administration, ICE began detaining families at Karnes County Immigration Processing Center and has now started detaining families at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley.

Despite their euphemistic names, make no mistake - these are prison-like facilities detaining families with children. Like all ICE detention, family detention centers are inherently inhumane and have a well-documented history of abusive conditions, including inadequate medical and mental health care, lack of access to water and other necessities, and inappropriate disciplinary tactics including threats to separate families.

Congress has the power to withhold funding for family detention and plays an important oversight role in exposing the harms and abuses of ICE detention. The Trump administration must not be allowed to continue detaining families unchecked.

Regardless of conditions, any time spent in detention is extremely harmful, especially to children. Numerous professional medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have documented the harm it causes both children and their parents, including post-traumatic stress disorder, emotional and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, and weight loss among other physical, emotional and behavioral health problems. The Department of Homeland Security’s own medical experts have come forward to blow the whistle on the cruelty of this practice.

In 2018 the Trump administration was the architect of the Zero Tolerance Policy which mandated separating immigrant children from their parents and detaining them alone in detention sites where they were neglected and abused while their parents in many cases were deported. Whether detained together or separated, detention hurts families and children.

Congress must stop the Trump administration from harming children and families again! Take action now!

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