A society must be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable—and most valuable—members: its children. The State of America’s Children 2020 makes it abundantly clear that by this measure, America is falling shamefully short.
The Trump administration’s immigration policy priorities are shaping an anti-immigrant environment that is harming our children. Children, whether at the Peace Arch, or the southern border or within the interior of this country, are hurting—afraid they might wake up to find loved ones gone, afraid to speak languages that might “get [them] into trouble.” We must defend them.
Although the mammoth physical wall envisioned by Trump hasn’t gone up the way he imagined, and although no new laws have actually been passed, the unseen shifts in administrative choices have erected an invisible wall against any immigration, legal or otherwise.
There is no safe way to detain children and families. This administration’s attempt to expand family detention is dangerous, and the Children’s Defense Fund will continue to fight its cruelty.