What Happens When Due Process Disappears - Even for Children?

What Happened?

Over the Labor Day holiday weekend, 76 unaccompanied Guatemalan children were awakened in the middle of the night, either in shelters or sponsor homes, told to pack their bags and were loaded onto vans and buses, and then planes set for deportation back to Guatemala.

The current administration explains that this was a repatriation effort at the request of the Guatemalan government, and yet we want to understand why that process would happen in the middle of the night, under the cover of darkness, on a holiday weekend where most things are out out of sight out of mind.

Unaccompanied migrant children who are in the care and custody of the US government are here seeking asylum. All of these children were mid-process in their asylum determination. They are here because they believe their government cannot or will not protect them from the fear and violence that they experienced and that made them flee to the US. Our country is a country of law and process.

These kids deserve the utmost care and compassion, so that we can ensure they are not sent back to exploitative and dangerous situations. We talked with our friends Kids in Need of Defense to understand why and how this happened and how we might be able to be a part of keeping these kids safe.

What Can We Do?

This weekend, 76 Guatemalan children in U.S. custody were pulled from their beds at 1:00 a.m., loaded onto planes, and nearly deported under the cover of darkness. We are a country of laws. Circumventing the legal process, especially for children, undermines who we claim to be. We need to use our voices!

Visit our While In Our Care series. These videos explore the first-hand accounts of children in U.S. care during family separation in 2017 and reminds us how unchecked and unmonitored systems can lead to incredible trauma and child abuse. We must pay attention - and speak up for children in our care!