In this episode, Angela, Jim and John discuss the way immigration policies and enforcement are harming children. We reference the following quote by Nelson Mandela as we discuss these issues: "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
As mentioned in the episode, we want to offer a way for you to reach out to members of Congress. Here are two options to locate your Representatives and Senators:
Official: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
More User Friendly: https://democracy.io/#!/
Below is a template you can use to write to members of Congress. It is designed for children’s attorneys, but if you have found this podcast and are in a different field, feel free to adapt it to suit your background.
Dear Representative/Senator (insert name)
I am a constituent of yours and a children’s attorney who practices in your district. I am writing concerning the aggressive enforcement of immigration policies and its impact on children. While reasonable people can disagree on immigration policy, I am writing with a very simple request. Whatever we do, can we please take care not to harm or traumatize children? Our government should not harm a single child - whether here through legal means or not.
As a children’s attorney, I am well versed in the adverse impact of trauma on young children. Subjecting thousands of children to an environment where they live in fear of losing one or both parents to detention or sudden deportation, or of being detained themselves in substandard conditions, will have dire consequences for us as a society. Childhood trauma creates lifelong challenges, and we will pay this bill eventually. And to the extent children themselves are detained, I have serious concerns about detention conditions and their negative impact on child health and well-being.
The administration’s aggressive enforcement of immigration policy seems designed to strike fear in the hearts of immigrants whether undocumented or going through the legal process. The problem is it seems as if the administration has forgotten that the children are watching. And it’s not just immigrant children being harmed. American children are also watching this play out in real time, and it is harming them as well.
When children’s attorneys are faced with a domestic violence case, one of the first things we point out to the parents is that the violence occurred while their children were in the room watching. I am asking you to remember that the children are in the room. We need to be the adults in the room and put our children first. Thank you for listening and taking action to protect our children.
USA