How to Help Families Affected by the Trump Administration’s Border Separation Policies

The Trump administration Justice Department’s “zero-tolerance” policy on undocumented immigrants crossing the border into the U.S. has left many of us asking what we can do to help affected families. Part of the initiative pushed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions (which includes prosecuting even those who have fled their homes seeking asylum from threats of violence) includes separating migrant parents and children at the border, a nightmarish cruelty that has been the subject of growing outrage. MSNBC reporter Jacob Soboroff got a glimpse of a government-contracted facility in Brownsville, Texas, that has been housing “unaccompanied minors” who have been separated from their families. In a disturbing report, Soboroff recounted that about 1,500 migrant boys ages 10 to 17 are “effectively” incarcerated at the Casa Padre shelter, a former Walmart that has been pushed to capacity.

So what can you do? The first thing is to know about Families Belong Together (Familias Unidas, No Divididas), an organizing group behind the hashtag and a hub of information on how to lend your voice in protest of the immigration policies’ destructive and traumatic presence at the border. Its mission statement says that “Families Belong Together opposes the cruel, inhumane, and unjustified separation of children from their parents along the U.S. border with Mexico and at other ports of entry into the U.S. We protest the conditions in which these children are kept. We protest the irreversible trauma that has already been perpetrated on these children and their parents for the crime of seeking a better life. To separate immigrant families, victims of violence, hunger, and poverty, is to re-violate them. Children as young as 18 months are torn from their mother’s arms by the U.S. government. This is violent abuse. These families are victimized again by the government to which they turn for help. Families Belong Together opposes the inhumane policies of the Trump Administration, Border Patrol, and ICE and calls for immediate reform.”

The Families Belong Together site lists local events happening near your zip code as well as a network of supporting organizations to give money to. Its Lunchtime for Change initiative is asking people to virtually support wherever they are when they have some free time, likely on a lunch break, by taking as many actions as possible, including donating, calling your local representatives, and signing the following petitions:

ACLU
MoveOn
Women’s March National
National Domestic Workers Alliance
Credo Mobile
Daily Kos

California Senator Kamala Harris has started a petition asking for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's resignation.

In addition, Senator Dianne Feinstein has recently introduced the Keep Families Together Act, legislation that would prevent the Department of Homeland Security from taking children from their parents at the border. Feinstein tweeted that she now has 40 senators supporting her on the bill, and has urged people with Republican senators to call their representatives and demand action. The League of Women Voters has a tool that easily connects you to your reps based on your zip code, and Families Belong Together provides a sample script here.

One quick and effective way to help is to donate to the right organizations, including local groups that are fighting to provide humanitarian and legal aid to families caught near a border crossing. Families Belong Together has a great list of groups here, including RAICES, which provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees in Texas. FamiliesBelong.org asks that supporters amplify the message with the #FamiliesBelongTogether hashtag on Twitter. Chrissy Teigen took the cue and announced that in honor of Donald Trump’s 72nd birthday she would be donating $72,000 for each member of her family ($288,000 in total) on behalf of her husband, John Legend, and their two children to the ACLU. “John and I are outraged to see and hear the horror stories of immigrant families seeking asylum and refuge in America being ripped apart due to the inhumane policies of the Trump administration,” Teigen wrote online.

In addition, MSNBC host Chris Hayes and Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington state announced on the June 18 episode of All in With Chris Hayes that a nationwide protest will take place on Saturday, June 30. Participating organizations include the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the ACLU, the Women’s March, Greenpeace and MoveOn.org. The main protest march will occur in Washington D.C., ending at the White House, but Families Belong Together will list events around the country for those who can travel to DC.