Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

No matter their background, every child deserves to be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect. Their voices matter!

CTAN's own @wendydcervantes.bsky.social at @clasp.org writes in @washingtonpost.com : Immigration actions harm kids. DHS has a responsibility to preserve the rights of parents, no matter who is in the White House. #PostLetters

Listen to "The Forgotten Family Separation Crisis", my Discussion with Ashley DeAzevedo and Anna Lekas Miller About Mixed-Status Couples Due to Congressional inaction and immigration laws that haven’t kept pace with reality, millions of US citizens live in families where at least one person is, or could be, facing deportation.

Listen to "The Forgotten Family Separation Crisis", my Discussion with Ashley DeAzevedo and Anna Lekas Miller About Mixed-Status Couples

austinkocher.substack.com/p/listen-to-...

Each step of every mile logged made an incredible difference 🤍

You can still be apart of being a Waymaker for immigrant children by donating today!

www.theyoungcenter.org/donate

With the support from our Waymakers, we were able to raise over $84,595 and walk 28,742 miles across 40 states and 3 countries 🤍 We are incredibly THANKFUL to all the 537 participants that formed 75 teams, as well as our sponsors, staff, and volunteers who came out during the month of September.

Why Is It So Hard to Become a US Citizen? - American Immigration Council “Why don’t they just get in line?" It's a question often directed toward undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

"Why don't they just apply for citizenship?"

This is a question often directed toward undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

But the pathway to American citizenship for the vast majority is long, complex, and financially draining.

YouTube video by CNN Hear from children left behind when their mother was deported

Thank you, Melanie Hicken at @cnn.com , for telling the stories of American kids impacted by immigration actions. The investigation found 100+ US citizen children were left without parents due to Trump’s deportation efforts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ywd...

Our visionary sponsors

Our visionary sponsors

We are especially grateful to our visionary sponsors for their support.

We’re incredibly grateful to our amazing sponsors for supporting this year’s Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge

🤍 Your kindness and support of the Young Center doesn't go unnoticed!

THANK YOU 😊

Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge Participants

Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge Participants

Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge Participants

Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge Participants

As our Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge winds down today, we’re inspired by everyone who walked in solidarity for immigrant children.

Your steps have made a meaningful impact, and we deeply appreciate your dedication!

#BeAWaymaker

Briefing on the Hill.

Young Center Staff on the HIll.

Young Center Staff and Board at the Waymakers Mileage Challenge.

Last 09/18, our staff and board members joined our partners in Washington, D.C. We spent time on the Hill educating congressional staffers about the ongoing separation of immigrant families & harm to children. We also walked & honored their journey to the U.S. as part of our Mileage Challenge.

We joined 23 organizations urging an end to recent ICE and Homeland Security Investigations interviews of unaccompanied children in government custody.

Read more 👇

Every child deserves a safe repatriation when returning to their home country. This means a process that protects their rights, ensures their well-being, & involves proper planning, resources & support.

This should always be the standard for all children. Read our blog to learn more: bit.ly/42NGFIz

Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge The Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge is on Monday September 1, 2025 to Tuesday September 30, 2025.

There's still time to walk in solidarity with unaccompanied immigrant children through our Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge. Want to join us?

Register today, log your miles, and #BeAWaymaker🤍

Sign up ➡️ runsignup.com/waymakers

Fortunately, with the support of a Young Center Child Advocate, he was released to family in the U.S. and awaits the day he can reunite with his mother.

Juan reminds us why we take a stand to protect children like him and work to make sure that they are reunited with their loved ones.

Every child deserves freedom and safety 🤍 Juan and his mother traveled 1,500 miles from El Salvador to find refuge but was turned away at the U.S. Border while his mother was kidnapped in Mexico. Juan continued his journey alone and was later placed into government custody.

The Cost of Separation: Fighting for Immigrant Children’s Rights

Check out episode seven of NAWL’s Bridging Divides series, featuring Kelly Albinak Kribs, Young Center Technical Assistance Program Co-Director, about the organization’s mission and its work supporting immigrant children.

Happening NOW at the National Immigration Summit, Melissa Stek leads the conversation on effective messaging on children and immigrant families!

@clasp.org @theyoungcenter.bsky.social @pifcoalition.bsky.social

The National Immigration Summit is happening NOW! Thank you to our panelists for sharing resources and leading the discussion on policies impacting immigrant children and families! #forchildren
@wendydcervantes.bsky.social @pifcoalition.bsky.social @theyoungcenter.bsky.social @the-ilrc.bsky.social

Stop Abducting Immigrant Youth! - Home is Here Nearly 20 DACA recipients and dozens more immigrant youth without DACA have been abducted and detained by ICE this year. These are our classmates, our neighbors, our friends. ICE is carrying out a campaign of terror, targeting young people. These are no...

DACA has always been lawful. Now, it's facing its biggest threat yet, with DHS ignoring DACA protections and detaining DACA recipients.

Our Immigrant Youth Abduction Tracker is exposing the truth: nearly 20 DACA recipients & dozens more immigrant youth are detained.
HomeIsHere.us/tracker

Our Children’s Fear: Immigration Policy’s Effects on Young Children | CLASP Our country's children are living in fear. This report documents how the current immigration context is impacting our nation’s youngest based on focus groups in six states.

"A CLASP study from 2018 found that children as young as 3 experienced behavioral changes–like frequent crying, separation anxiety, and sleep problems–due to the loss of a parent or the fear of losing a parent. www.clasp.org/publications...

Survivors of abuse deserve safety and permanency: Protect Vulnerable Immigrant Youth Today

With credit to @immigrantsrising.bsky.social for SIJS explanation.

Show your support! Every child survivor of parental abuse, abandonment and neglect deserves access to safety and permanency. Sign our petition for Congress today.

act.theyoungcenter.org/a/pass-the-p...

A few weeks ago in New York, over 100 people packed a courtroom in a powerful show of solidarity for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS).

Their presence was a strong reminder that the voices of immigrant youth matter, and their rights are important too 🤍

CILA 10 Years of Impact

Our Chief Program Officer Jennifer Nagda will be speaking at the 10 year anniversary of the ABA Children’s Immigration Law Academy on Sept. 23 at 2:00 p.m. as part of a roundtable discussion with experts working with unaccompanied youth.

RSVP: americanbar.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Every child deserves safety and stability within their families and communities.

Our children deserve to grow up surrounded by the safety and security of their loved ones, never in fear that this basic right could be taken away.

“[The] ruling is a powerful affirmation of the Young Center’s role as a trusted advocate for unaccompanied children. The court recognized our deep expertise and credibility. Every child deserves to have their case heard fairly and individually. We are alarmed by the government’s misleading claims and rushed removal efforts and won’t hesitate to act if similar threats arise against children of other nationalities. We will not stand by while children are targeted and are prepared to stand with every child.”

The ruling ensures that these children cannot be deported without due process and recognizes their right to challenge gov't actions that threaten their safety.

Yesterday, in a critical victory for unaccompanied children, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction halting the removal of Guatemalan children from the U.S.

Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge The Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge is on Monday September 1, 2025 to Tuesday September 30, 2025.

Register today, log your miles, and #BeAWaymaker🤍

Sign up ➡️ runsignup.com/waymakers

Cristina reminds us why we take a stand to protect children like her and work to make sure that they are safe and sound.

For the full month of September, we are choosing to walk in solidarity with unaccompanied immigrant children through our Waymakers Virtual Mileage Challenge.

Trump’s mass deportations bring a new wave of family separations As ICE officers ramp up arrests, hundreds of migrant children are being sent to federal shelters. Some parents are given a choice: Deport with their children or face separation.

“What we are seeing now is a reckless attempt to deport as many people as possible without regard at all to family unity or family relationships...it’s happening in darkness without any...oversight or accountability for what this process means for families," said Efrén Olivares from @nilc.org