WASHINGTON – Refuge for Families, a transnational coalition of advocacy organizations organizing humanitarian and legal assistance for Central American asylum seekers, strongly condemns the death of a two-and-half-year-old migrant child after being held by the U.S. Border Patrol for several days.

Earlier this week, CNN published photos of a chaotic and overcrowded Border Patrol station in which children slept outside covered with emergency Mylar blankets and nothing more. 

Coalition partners released this statement today:

“It is devastating to hear the tragic news of another child dying under U.S. custody, the fourth in the last six months! It’s an outrage that families are being subjected to these horrific conditions, even as they seek our humanitarian protection,” said Oscar Chacon, Executive Director of Alianza Americas, a lead organization with Refuge for Families.

“The Trump Administration’s poorly planned and inhumanely executed policies are causing these deaths and conditions at the border. This must change and not one more dollar should go to propping up a system that is allowing children to die,” said Sulma Arias with the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM).

“It is no wonder children are getting sick. This abuse cannot continue. We demand that the administration allow families to efficiently present their asylum claims and be granted refuge with their trusted families and loved ones in the U.S,” said Stephanie Stephens, Campaign Manager We Are All America.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 16, 2019

CONTACT: 

SUSANA FLORES (915) 525 2434 susana@communicationsshop.us

FERNANDA DURAND (443)  396-3317 fernanda@communicationsshop.us