La actual política de detener a madres y niñ@s en centros de detención es una violación de las leyes estadounidenses e internacionales de derechos humanos, lastima a l@s niñ@s, y castiga a familias que buscan salvar sus vidas. Jenny Munguia es una de las miles de madres que desafiaron el peligroso viaje hacia el norte en busca de seguridad para ella y su hijo. Pero en lugar de seguridad, se han encontrado con una trauma aún mayor. Jenny y su hijo se encuentran detenid@s durante meses en el centro de detención Dilley, en Texas. "Mi hijo no tiene apetito y no ha comido durante cinco días. El psicólogo me dijo que mi hijo está deprimido porque siente la incertidumbre de estar detenido y no poder salir. Una madre busca procurar todo lo que su hijo necesita para estar feliz y crecer, pero aquí siento que no puedo hacer nada para ayudar a mi hijo." No podemos permitir que mas madres y niñ@s como Jenny y su hijo sufran por esta política inhumana e ilegal. Es hora de acabar con la detención de familias ahora mismo.

This petition is really important for our family, simply because we are fighting for one of ours freedom. My cousin is a good man with the best intentions. His sister started to see a psychiatrist for the same reason that she is overwhelmed with feelings that she will no longer see her brother, and my aunt..... My aunt is the sweetest person to meet. And she sure doesn't deserve this. She has started to get sick and loose weight, for the same reason that her family isn't together anymore. They would always come to visit us. But it all stop because there hearts are filled with holes, holes of not knowing what will happen to her son if they end up deporting him. Because he doesn't have NO ONE to look after him, his 21 but still has the heart of a kid. He loves his mom more than anything and refuses to leave voluntary because he as well as me believe that there's a lot more here for him. Chances, opportunities, and a path to follow. As if he were to get deported all he would have waiting for him in Mexico would be a pavement spot in the street, I believe that sending my cousin back to Mexico would be SUICIDE for him. That is why i believe that he deserves this second chance. And that you shouldn't deny this dream of his of becoming someone in this beautiful country, rather than a nobody in his own country. Thank You much, God bless from The Beltran Family

The United States' policy of locking up mothers and children in detention centers violates US and international human rights law, needlessly puts children in harm’s way, and punishes families fleeing for their lives. Jenny Munguia is one of thousands of mothers who braved the dangerous journey north in search of safety for herself and her son. But instead of safety, Jenny and her son have only found more trauma. Jenny and her son were detained in the Dilley, Texas detention center, where they worked with the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project. According to Jenny: “My son has no appetite and has not been eating for five days. The psychologist told me that my son is depressed because he feels the uncertainty of being detained and not being able to leave. A mother wants to see that her child has everything necessary to be happy and grow, but here I feel like I can’t do anything to help my son." We cannot let more mothers and children like Jenny and her son suffer because of this inhumane and illegal policy. Its time to #EndFamilyDetention now.

Ruben Iribe Beltran came to the US in 1990 from Mexico. In 2006, Ruben developed an infection in his toe from a sliver he got while incarcerated in Beaumont, Texas. Due to poor medical care, the infection caused Ruben to develop gangrene in his toe, resulting in the amputation of his leg. He was given crutches to walk with, but broke his hip from a fall soon after receiving them. In May 2015, Ruben was transferred to Kromes Detention Center in Florida. He suffers from, among other things: hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, and type II diabetes. Despite being made aware of these issues, Kromes has been unable and unwilling to provide proper medical care for him, including providing dialysis. Ruben was told that if he could find the dialysis treatment he needs in Arizona, he would be released on parole so he could access the treatment. Now, Kromes has gone back on their word. Despite finding a dialysis treatment in Arizona, they are refusing to let Ruben be released on parole, saying there is already a deportation order coming from Washington for Ruben and he will be deported any day. His health is deteriorating rapidly- most recently he had part of his big toe removed after developing blisters and an infection. Aside from dialysis, Ruben needs prosthetic bandages, disinfectant alcohol, prosthetic socks, and a wheelchair that fits his body. He has been denied all of these items and forced to wear the same soiled socks he wore upon his arrival 14 months ago. His medical needs and the detention center's violations go on. Ruben needs urgent care, not the cruelty he is being treated with by the detention center guards. The longer he is held in detention, the greater the risk for infection and the more rapidly his condition will deteriorate. Please sign to support prosecutorial discretion for Ruben and his parole from detention.

In recent months, the President and a bipartisan coalition have spearheaded a conversation on the need to reform a criminal justice system that acts as the new Jim Crow. The efforts say we have strayed from being a “nation of second chances.” The Democratic candidates have promised to address the mass incarceration that discriminates against Black and Latino communities and sentences people to cruel and lengthy punishment. But during the same time period immigration policy has actually moved in the opposite direction, widening the categories of convictions that place people in the crosshairs for detention, deportation and falsely claiming to focus on “felons not families.” For non-citizens and undocumented people, it doesn’t just impact people’s time in courts and jail. Instead of being able to reintegrate into their communities, contact with the criminal justice system can mean the double punishment of doing time and then being transferred to a second sentence in detention and eventually deported. With the Party expected to draft a platform that addresses both mass incarceration and promotes immigration reform, the platform committee has an opportunity and responsibility to ensure that someone’s experience with the one doesn’t result in unjust exclusion from the other. In Georgia, Juan has a felony conviction on his record for driving without a license. In Arizona, Noemi has a felony conviction for working to be able to afford to apply for DACA, the deportation relief program for immigrant youth. Right now, Jose Juan is in sanctuary in a church on Chicago’s Southside because ICE refuses to evaluate his case beyond a felony DUI he received years ago, a felony only because he did not have a driver’s license at the time. Instead of stigmatizing immigrants who have previous contact with the criminal justice system and putting them in further jeopardy, drop the box from immigration reform policies and make sure that everyone who calls the US home has access to the papers that make it official. Read more: Huffington Post: Nation of Second Chances or Double Standards http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tania-unzueta/a-nation-of-second-chance_b_9934394.html Are Criminal Justice Policies and Immigration Reform at Odds? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marisa-franco/are-criminal-justice-reforms-and-immigration-policy-at-odds_b_8361768.html A Price to High: Families Torn Apart by Deportations for Drug Offenses https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/16/price-too-high/us-families-torn-apart-deportations-drug-offenses