Take Action!
#FreeThemAll #SafeAndTogether
On Friday, June 26, 2020, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ordered ICE to release all children currently imprisoned in family detention centers with their parents for more than 20 days by July 17, 2020. The caveat? Judge Gee only has jurisdiction over the children and not their parents or caretakers.
Raices Texas has released a Social Media Tool Kit giving you all the background info and action steps necessary to help!
Courtesy of Raices Texas, below you can find instructions on:
Background and General Talking Points
Phone Outreach
Email Outreach
Social Media Outreach
Background and General Talking Points
The Flores settlement agreement is an agreement finalized in 1997 between DHS (including ICE) and all children in DHS custody. The agreement governs the conditions of detention for children, including that ICE should release children after about 20 days.
In the Flores case, Judge Gee ordered release of all children detained more than 20 days by July 17, 2020, but she doesn’t have the power to release parents.
In a separate lawsuit filed by the 3 family detention legal teams (Karnes, Dilley, Berks) called OMG v. Wolf, Judge Boasberg has the power to order release of parents and children together. He will not issue an order until the week of July 20, 2020, and he indicated that he will likely NOT order release of families together.
ICE has, and has always had, the power to release families together - to be clear, nothing in the law prohibits this.
Judge Gee ordered ICE and the attorneys in Flores to create a PERMANENT legal protocol to ask parents if they want to separate from their children or be detained with their children indefinitely - this protocol would kill Flores 20 day release protections for children. ICE could, for example, ask parents as soon as they are apprehended if they want to separate from their children or not; if parents say no (who wouldn’t!) then ICE would have a loophole to the 20 day release rule - this means indefinite detention for children.
Our Demand: ICE must not rush to create this permanent protocol, especially in a pandemic. Even if they do finalize a protocol, ICE MUST commit to a policy of family unity and prompt release per the Flores agreement. Families detained now must be released together!
Phone Outreach:
Call ICE at 202-282-8495 and leave a message.
Call the ICE San Antonio Field Office at (210) 283-4750 and leave a message for San Antonio Field Office Director Joseph M. Correa Sr.
Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and give the operator your zip code to be connected to your Representative.
Call House Majority Leader, Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-4965.
Call Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell at (202) 224-2541.
Email Outreach:
Copy and paste all these email addresses into one email and send a personalized message to chad.wolf@hq.dhs.gov, matthew.albence@ice.dhs.gov, sanantonio.outreach@ice.dhs.gov, enrique.m.lucero@ice.dhs.gov, Deborah.Achim@ice.dhs.gov, Robert.Guadian@ice.dhs.gov,
Phone/Email Script
Here is the script you can follow when making phone calls:
“Hello, My name is ______ and I am calling regarding the detention of immigrant families at the Karnes, Dilley and Berks Family Detention Centers located in Texas and Pennsylvania. I am distraught about the reports of the spread of COVID-19 in these immigration prisons. However, I was encouraged to learn that Friday, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that all children detained for more than 20 days at ICE the family detention centers be released no later than July 17, 2020.
It is impossible for ICE to keep families safe from COVID-19 in detention, and no parent should be forced to choose between separation or keeping their child detained. I urge you to take action and demand that ICE release all families to their sponsor together immediately. Deporting families will only contribute to this public health crisis. Demand that ICE commit to a permanent family unity policy.”
When sending emails, feel free to take some time to write your own thoughts and feelings! It feels good, is more powerful, and is harder for the recipient to filter out! Just always remember, *we want all families released together*.
Social Media Posts
Here are a few graphics you can use, and here is a toolkit with sample tweets! Feel free to use these in any posts you make. Please tag @DHS_Wolf, @McConnellPress, @SpeakerPelosi and your local representatives with the hashtag #FreeThemAll. We love seeing your participation and can retweet the posts you make!
Please remember to report @DHS_Wolf for hate and abuse on twitter!
Take a moment to read the report regarding Family Separation in 2018: