Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King
Recent #DECLAREWECARE Videos
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Why does it take such tragedy to bring visibility to an issue? Until 3000 migrant children were separated from their families this summer, there was no broad public consciousness of the horrifying deprivations faced by unaccompanied minors and children who arrived in this country in family units. These 134,000 children in 2017 were subject to the same deprivations we witnessed as the media covered the devastating conditions of detention under the Trump administration policy of family separation and as corroborated by the Flores declarations of children presently incarcerated (most of whom were not subject to this policy). These children report insecure access to food, water, warmth, and basic medical care.
The inhumane conditions of detention prove most acute during immigration processing by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), when children are often kept in mixed company with adults and in jail-like circumstances, sometimes in actual city and county jails. These conditions are promptly supplanted by other equally troubling concerns about drugging or sexual abuse in ORR custody, as children wait sometimes years to be placed with a sponsor.
The massive influx of unaccompanied minors peaked in 2014 but the question of how to safely and humanely care for them was not of great public interest. Perhaps it is the hopelessness of an unnecessarily complex immigration system, too many private interests (subcontracted detention facilities), too many affected children, and deep and pervasive problems with foster care in many states which might otherwise absorb children without requiring they be detained for their protection.
In this moment, parents have a powerful opportunity and a responsibility to engage with their own children on this issue, if there is to be any hope looking forward. We are called to stand, to speak, and to move others to action. And awareness is the first step to change. To that end, families from all over the country can participate in our #declarewecare grassroots video challenge.
Instructions
Download Media Release
Select a script below. Record in landscape view. Begin with ‘This is the testimony of (name), a (age) year-old (boy/girl) from (country).’ Suggested reflections to conclude: how this exercise makes your child feel, what (alternate) vision of the future of America they wish to see, a call to action for other children and parents. Please ensure their words remain nonpartisan and topical (about inhumane conditions of detention, suffering experienced by asylum seekers). Fill out this release and, and send your video to projectlifeline2018@gmail.com. In the subject line of your emailed recording, please put the first name and age of your child. If you have more than one child recording a declaration, please send each in a separate email. We will upload within 48 hours. Once uploaded, share from our website with all your social networks. Use the #declarewecare and #IamJosselin or #IamManuel hashtags.
Josselin, age 13, Honduras, #IamJosselin
Excerpt: My date of birth is June 29th, 2005. I am 13 years old. My mother and I are from Honduras. We left the country because my mom was working at a shop and they threatened her. She was really scared and did not know what to do. Eventually the place she worked shut down and so we were not able to afford living there anymore so we had to leave the country. We presented ourselves at the border about June 25th, 2018. We were taken to what they call ‘The Freezer.’ There were no beds at all there any everyone had to sleep on the cold cement. I was able to have my mother with me the whole time but many mothers were not able to. It was so cold where we were staying that we could not sleep or rest. We were given small aluminum blankets. One blanket was for me and one was for my mother. We were not allowed to shower while we were there. The toilets were very dirty. Sometimes there was toilet paper but sometimes there was not. There was not usually water for us to wash our hands. We did not have toothbrushes…We were very hungry. It was painful how hungry we were. The sandwiches they gave us were still frozen and when I tried to eat it made me nauseous so I was not able to eat it and neither was my mother. It was extremely cold at this place and we were not able to sleep because of how cold it was. The air conditioning was turned on very high and it was pointed right above where I was sleeping. The lights were always on. We were not given anything to clean ourselves or allowed to shower…After 5 hours my mother and I were taken to another place where we were held for two days…I was separated from my mother as we anived. I had to go to this other caged area where other children were. I do not understand why but whenever I would try to fall asleep a police would come and kick me in my feet to wake me up. Once I would wake up they would walk away.
Manuel, age 17, Honduras, #IamManuel
Excerpt: I left Honduras because of the drug dealers there…It took me 6 months to get here…I have been in the El Centro CBP facility for approximately 20.5 hours. The first time I was given food in this facility was at approximately 6am this morning, 14.5 hours after I arrived…The burrito had been frozen, and was not cooked enough. It was still frozen in the middle. The meal was not enough food for me. I am still hungry…The water tastes like Clorox…I am being kept in a room with 12 other boys. We have 3 cushions and 4 or 5 blankets between us. I do not have a blanket. Five of us are able to sleep on the cushions at a time, because we push the cushions together and sleep close together. Others sleep on the two benches that are on the walls, or on the floor. It is cold for me in the room, without a blanket. There is nothing to do in the room: no books or games. The room is approximately 12 feet by 7 or 8 feet. The cushions are approximately 3 feet wide. I understand feet as a unit of measurement because I worked as a carpenter in Honduras. The bathroom in the room where I am staying is dirty. It has not been cleaned since I arrived. I have not been given an opportunity to shower since I arrived…To my knowledge, I have not seen any written notice of my legal rights. I have signed a paper, but I did not understand it, because it was written in English, which I do not read. No one explained the paper to me…I don’t think I am allowed to use a phone here. I did give the people who work here the number of my aunt, who lives in Florida. A man who works here called her in my presence. She told him that I could go to her. I do not know what will happen to me next. I told a man here that I was afraid to return to my country because of the drug dealers threatening my grandparents and me. He told me that he didn’t care what happened to me in my country, and that those problems were my country’s problems. The men who work here are very tough/mean. The same man also called me a ‘burro,’ which means a donkey or stupid person. He also told me that they don’t want stupid people like me here bothering their country. I feel lonely here, and I want to speak with my aunt.
Essential conversations to guide the experience
Children:
- Do you think most children would want to leave the country they call home?
- How desperate would you need to be to leave the people, culture, language, and places you love most?
- How does it make you feel to know that a child was forced to flee their country?
- How do you imagine they get here?
- How does it make you feel to know that once here, they are treated like this?
- Are children who flee their countries breaking our laws by presenting themselves at our border?
- Should that be illegal? Why or why not?
- Can you imagine any problems with ensuring children in detention are treated humanely?
- Why do you think our government does not treat them humanely?
Parents:
- How did it make you feel to define and discuss the issue of inhumane conditions of detention with your child(ren)?
- How did it make you feel to watch your child read the words of an incarcerated migrant child?
- In what ways did this exercise motivate you to learn more about the issue?
- In what ways did this exercise change your thinking about this issue?
- In what ways did this exercise empower you and your child(ren)?
- What other avenues of action on this issue appeal to you?
- How can you involve your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues?