We Must End Family Detention to End Family Separation

Yesterday the President announced he is ending the policy of separating families at the border and instead wants to detain families together indefinitely.

This is a cruel response to the demand to end family separation.

We in Pennsylvania do not need to imagine the impact of this Executive Order. We have seen indefinite family detention first-hand.

We have seen 7-year olds refusing to eat and acting out, and detention center staff blaming the mother for “ineffective parenting skills” instead of providing proper medical or mental health services.

We have seen 3-year olds vomiting blood for days at a time without receiving any medical care while the mother is told to give her child more water.

We have seen a 6-year old boy threaten his mother with suicide unless he is released from detention, and given no crisis intervention or support.

PICC and our member organizations condemn this administration’s continued attacks on immigrant and refugee communities. We will not stand silent in the face of this Executive Order, and we will not stop fighting until we have shut the doors to the Berks Family Detention Center and ended family detention everywhere.

We also call on every public official in Pennsylvania at the local, state, and federal level to stand up against this administration’s cruelty, and pass humane immigration policies that end deportations and detention, reunify and keep families together, welcome those seeking asylum and refuge, and provide a just and humane pathway toward citizenship.

In Love and Struggle,

Sundrop Carter
Executive Director
Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

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