Teacher’s Union Condemns Administration’s Detention and Criminalization of Immigrant Children and Their Families

Burlingame, CA…CTA President E. Toby Boyd issued the following statement today calling for an immediate end to the inhumane detention and criminalization of immigrant children and their families at the U.S. border: “Our hearts are saddened by the ongoing detention and criminalization of immigrant children and their families. The Trump administration must end the inhumane practice that separates children from their families at the U.S. border and places them in traumatizing, life-threatening cages masqueraded as detention centers. These unconscionable acts driven by the racist, cruel and politically charged motives of this administration contradict all that we stand for as Americans.

“Since a Federal judge ordered a stop to border separations, nearly 1,000 child migrants have been ripped apart at our border as they have come to America seeking a better life. These are children whose families have taken a dangerous journey seeking a better life, often times fleeing oppression and life-threatening violence in their native countries. Instead they are being met at the border by the cruel and un-American practice of being shoved in cages. This must stop. Immigrant children incarcerated by the U.S. Government must be treated as human beings and should not be exposed to harmful conditions.

“Educators urge fellow Americans to join us in calling on members of Congress to urge them to end child detention and family separation. Congress must protect these children and treat them as human beings with all the potential and opportunity to thrive. These children need classrooms, not cages, and access to educational opportunities, medical attention, counseling and other services that will nurture them while enduring the unfathomable conditions while detained.

“Our immigration policies must be based on compassion, and all those seeking entry into the United States must be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of the ultimate disposition of their cases.”

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