5 things you can do for World Children’s Day

by Mariya Parodi, senior press officer at Amnesty International USA

Carlos, one of the children who was detained in a family detention center in Berks, Pennsylvania. Carlos is now free, but many families remain detained throughout the U.S. in detention sites in Karnes City and Dilley, Texas

This November 20 is World Children’s Day, a day to advocate for, promote and celebrate children’s rights. Here are 5 things you can do to support World Children’s Day today.

1. Share your support online for children who are locked up, simply for seeking safety

Every day, children who should be with their loved ones are locked up in detention centers, kept away from their families for weeks and months at a time. These centers don’t prioritize the health, safety, or well-being of kids, which means these facilities are no home for a child. Show you stand with children seeking safety in the U.S.

2. Sign a petition calling on the U.S. government to stop detaining children on account of their immigration status, and to close facilities that are meant to be ‘temporary’ once and for all

Children should be with their families, communities, and friends and no child should be detained because of their immigration status. In cases where they are detained, they should be in in state-licensed, permanent Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters, where they can be placed with sponsors like family and community members as soon as possible, and no longer than 30 days. By calling facilities “temporary influx” facilities, the government has been able to evade its legal requirements towards children and companies have been able to profit from locking up kids, with no end in sight. Tell the government to stop using these facilities once and for all and to stop detaining kids on account of their immigration status.

3. Join a global action

Charanya Krishnaswami, the advocacy director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA on an advocacy mission to the U.S.-Mexico border

On November 20, activists from around the world will drop banners in solidarity with children seeking safety. You can join a banner drop locally or organize one of your own.

4. Join a campaign to welcome children seeking safety in the United States

Children look out onto the other side along the U.S.-Mexico border

The I Welcome campaign focuses on the treatment of children seeking safety in the U.S. wherever they are — from Customs and Border Protection facilities at the border, to Office of Refugee Resettlement facilities to ICE family detention centers. Stand with kids seeking asylum wherever they may be.

5. Donate

Amnesty International’s Researchers conduct interviews on a mission to the U.S.-Mexico border

Support mobilization efforts, as well as research and reporting into the conditions of kids seeking asylum in the U.S., and an urgent action network that mobilizes people to take action through grassroots organizing.