The "zero tolerance" policies of separating families as they entered the United States has created a humanitarian crisis. In the video clip, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, states he could find a child and their parents with a couple of "key strokes". "A convergence of cruelty and incompetence"* is being perpetuated with a lack of empathy and planning. Even under a court order to re-unite children with their families, Secretary Azar maintains his position, while desperate families, some already deported have not spoken to or know where their children are being held. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/06/26/alex-azar-separated-families-valencia-dnt-lead-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/family-separations/ *7/8/2018 Senator Dick Durbin, (D-ILL) interview on Meet the Press Update 7/10/18 https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/10/politics/azar-hhs-child-separation-immigration-charity-cnntv/index.html American Academy of Pediatrics report on Separation at the Border https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/StatementOpposingSeparationofChildrenandParents.aspx?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=NewsDailySubscribers20180710&mc_key=003i000003Q8kWMAAZ

Through our country’s history, military service has been a path to citizenship for new Americans arriving on our shores. But Trump hates immigrants so much, he wants to slam even that door shut. And Secretary Mattis is standing by, doing nothing to defend these recruits. Enough is enough. United we stand, and divided we fall. We’ll do whatever it takes to defend the rights of everyone who calls our country home. And we’ll vote out everyone who’s been complicit in Trump’s horrific policies of hate. We’ve seen these policies halted before. We know that our people power can win. In the military we believe that you NEVER leave our comrades behind. And that rings just as true today as it did when I served. That’s why I know you’ll join us in fighting for a more just system for all of us.

Let's use the power of our consumer voices to cut off the corporate money behind Trump’s unconscionable immigration policies! Tell Wells Fargo to STOP financing CoreCivic and GEO Group, private prison corporations that are profiting off the pain and separation of families. Why target Wells Fargo and private prison companies? Private prison companies are not only making huge profits from the incarceration and detention of immigrants, they are also a huge political force in lobbying for the legislation and policies that criminalize immigrants and communities of color in the U.S. [1][2] But private prisons are not the only ones making money here. Two of the private prison industry leaders, CoreCivic and GEO Group, depend on debt financing from Wells Fargo and other banks to conduct their day-to-day business operations, finance new facilities, and acquire smaller companies. This is a big deal. An analysis of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings over the past 10 years, shows that Wells Fargo has played a leading role in financing these debts.[3][4] Follow the money. As consumers, we have the power to stop this! Wells Fargo needs consumers like you and me in order to keep their business afloat, so our voices are powerful. We can demand that Wells Fargo stop financing private prisons, and thereby stop the construction of new private prisons to house immigrant children and families, stem the political power of private prison lobbyists, and send a warning message to other banks that consumers will not tolerate the use of their deposits to finance the private prison industry. Imprisoning children with families is still imprisoning children! Studies have shown that detention, even with families, is traumatic for children and can have long term health and developmental effects. [5] It’s time for everyone who cares about our democracy and the future direction of our country to use our voices, our votes, and the power of our pocketbooks to fight against human rights abuses in the name of immigration enforcement. Wells Fargo MUST stop financing this pain! There are alternatives to detention that are not only more compassionate for children and families, but also more fiscally responsible. In FY18, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that it cost on average $319.37 dollars a day, per family member, to incarcerate a family on the border. On the other hand, with the Family Case Management Program, (which the Trump administration terminated in 2017), children and their parents were provided with individualized family service plans, and had a proven 100% success rate ensuring the family attend their hearings, and it cost only $36, per family, per day![6] We believe that families seeking safety in our country need protection and opportunity. Children deserve to be with their families outside of cages and they deserve to have their rights protected. Join us today in telling Wells Fargo that they MUST stop the financing of CoreCivic and GEO Group. They MUST stop financing pain for corporate gain! [1] "For-Profit Family Detention: Meet the Private Prison Corporations Making Millions by Locking Up Refugee Families," grassrootsleadership.org [2] “How For Profit Prisons Have Become The Biggest Lobby No One Is Talking About,” The Washington Post, Apr. 28, 2015. [3] "The Banks That Finance Private Prison Companies," In the Public Interest, November 2016. [4] “Who Is Profiting From Incarcerating Immigrant Families,” Eyes on the Ties, June 21, 2018. [5] “Separating Kids From Parents Can Cause Psychological Harm. But Experts Say Detaining Them Together Isn't Much Better,” Time Magazine, June 21, 2018. [6] "The Real Alternatives to Detention," Women’s Refugee Commission, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Immigrant Justice Center, American Immigration Lawyers Association.

I am a mother of two and a long-term teacher and the thought of these traumatized children sitting alone in detention centers makes me cry myself to sleep.

We must work quickly to stop the human rights crisis of the separation of families at the border and of the families of the 7 million US citizen children and Dreamers.

Sign on to this letter advocating from a Buddhist, mindful and compassionate perspective for reunification of immigrant children with their families and for not creating long-term internment camps like those used to imprison Japanese-Americans in WW-II. Many Buddhist teachers and community leaders have signed; this is an opportunity to add your name as well.

My fellow Americans are suffering grave injustices because of their nationality and/or ethnicity. This goes against everything America once stood for.

The President has signed an executive order immediately ending the separation of children from their parents at the border. There is the SB 3036 "Keep Families together Act" being put forth to the Committee of the Judiciary by Senator Dianne Feinstein. Thank you, but we need accountability for next steps for these families traumatized by these separations. We need to know how families will be reunified and that they will be granted asylum in the US to escape the trauma they are fleeing.

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action is an interagency coalition of nearly 100 member organizations. We set standards and provide technical support. Based on our collective experiences, lessons learned, and accepted standards of care and protection for children, we urge all responsible parties to: • Facilitate rapid family reunification; • Provide mental health and psychosocial support to children and their families; • Ensure that administrative and legal procedures meet their best interests; and • Prevent further family separation by ending the use of detention. For the rest of the recommendations: https://alliancecpha.org/familiesbelongtogether/ If you agree: • Show your support for separated children by endorsing these recommendations: https://alliancecpha.org/familiesbelongtogether/ • Share them with your networks.

We will never develop solutions to this deepening crisis until we understand WHY so many find their countries unlivable. We call on the media to do their jobs and give context. Even starting in the 1980s will tell Americans much more than we know now.

I'm personally effected. A detention center is going in near my home. Outraged.

Update: Alejandra Juarez was deported on August 3, 2018. A bill has been introduced in the new Congress that will allow her to come home. Please sign our petition in support of the new bill. https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/bring-alejandra-home?source=c.em&r_by=18069385 Alejandra Juarez (Case # A077265754) is scheduled to be deported in August. She has lived in the United States for more than twenty years and has not committed any crimes since her illegal entry as a teenager. She came to the United States in 1998 to escape violence in Mexico. Since then, she has learned English, married a United States marine, raised their first daughter alone for two years while he served in Iraq, and continued to raise two daughters who are both U.S. citizens. She is a valued member of her church where she assists with their ministry to feed the poor. Alejandra’s deportation will cause great harm to her children who were not even born when she came to the United States. Her oldest daughter Pamela wants to become a doctor and now faces the likelihood that she will graduate high school and start college without her mother, who has always been her biggest supporter, at her side. Pamela recently started working to save up money so that she can visit Alejandra in Mexico. Her youngest daughter Estela is too young to be without her mother, so Alejandra’s deportation will essentially deport her as well, even though she is a U.S. citizen and this country is the only home she has ever known. Please allow Alejandra to stay in the United States with her children.