As child care workers, we work with kids every day. We help them learn, socialize, and develop. We're their guardians when their parents at work, and in some circumstances, we spend as much time with them as they do with their parents. Our role is essential, and we love what we do.

That's why we're horrified by the news about children and their families being detained and jailed at the border. We are early childhood educators -- we know how important the first few years of a child's life is. That's when they build long-lasting bonds with their parents, learn how to interact with other kids, and grow into the people they're meant to be.

When children are forced to sleep in tents or cages, they suffer emotionally, psychologically, and physically -- they are unable to thrive under these conditions. If we don't immediately reunite children with their families and into safe communities, there will be lasting harm. Throwing parents in jail with their kids is not a solution to this moral crisis.

Jailing children causes irreparable damage, whether they're with their parents or not. As President Trump has now decided to detain these families indefinitely, we are calling on him to free them immediately. As child care workers, we are standing up for our profession and our kids to affirm that families belong together in safe communities -- jails are no place for children and families.

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