Child Protection United States Project #41285

U.S. Border Crisis Children's Relief Fund

by Save the Children Federation

U.S. Border Crisis Children's Relief Fund

Project Report | Mar 29, 2023
Save the Children Statements on Border Issues

By Save the Children | Save the Children

Thank you for supporting Save the Children's U.S. Border Crisis Children's Relief Fund! Please read the following two recent press releases from Save the Children:

• Washington, D.C. (February 22, 2023) – After the recent announcement of a proposed rule by the Biden administration that would block asylum for a vast majority of children and families seeking safety and security in the U.S., Janti Soeripto, President and CEO of Save the Children, issued the following statement:

“This proposal is effectively a ban on asylum, undermining the rights and safety of hundreds of thousands of migrant children and families, most of whom are fleeing unimaginable violence and disasters. Rejecting their claims to asylum due to the manner they present themselves or their journey to the U.S. is morally unconscionable. In doing so, the U.S. government is knowingly and willingly subjecting asylum-seeking families and children to more – and unnecessary – danger and violence.

“While we fully understand the difficulties and complexities of rebuilding a broken immigration system, imposing restrictions on asylum and enacting policies that put children and families in danger is unacceptable. Children and families deserve better. Seeking asylum is a basic human right, protected under U.S. and international law. The Biden administration should be focused on reestablishing America as a safe haven for the persecuted.”

Save the Children – together with its political advocacy arm Save the Children Action Network – will continue to advocate on behalf of children and families to ensure they are treated legally and humanely, with dignity and respect, and work with the relevant authorities to ensure this decision is reversed.

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• Washington, D.C. (March 8, 2023) - Save the Children is extremely concerned by the recent reporting by The New York Times that the Biden administration is considering a return to family detention as part of its immigration processing. In response, Save the Children issued the following statement:

“Detention, particularly prolonged detention, has been shown to cause lasting harm and trauma to children, who are among the most impacted by the immigration system,” said Christy Gleason, Vice President for Policy, Advocacy and Campaign at Save the Children. “The potential implications of family detention on children’s wellbeing cannot be overstated.”

"We cannot repeat the same mistakes from the past. The Biden administration must prioritize alternatives to detention that are humane and uphold children's rights. We urge the administration to ensure that the best interests of children are at the forefront of any immigration policy decisions and to move away from punitive measures meant to deter asylum seekers from seeking safety and security in the U.S."

“Alternatives to detention, such as community-based programs, have been proven to be effective and are more cost-efficient than detention. These programs prioritize the wellbeing and safety of families while ensuring compliance with immigration processes. As a leading child protection organization, we welcome the opportunity to work with the administration to craft programs that are responsive to the needs of children instead of inflicting additional harm to children already fleeing trauma and violence.”

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Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we’ve changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

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Dec 2, 2022
Save the Children U.S. Border Crisis Update

By Save the Children | Save the Children

A child plays in an Arizona transit shelter.

November 2022

Thanks to donors like you, Save the Children has provided humanitarian assistance for children and families seeking asylum at the U.S. southern border since 2014, prioritizing programming for families traveling with children, with a special focus on the youngest children, pregnant women and new mothers, and children with special needs. Today, we are one of the only international organizations responding to this crisis on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, which is critical to addressing migration issues.

On the U.S. side, we are strengthening the capacity of shelters and communities to protect children and families and address their immediate physical and emotional needs. We provide a full complement of support to a network of 30-plus shelter and local partners that includes supplies, funds, child protection programming, and capacity-building training.

As of October, we had also provided $100 cash cards to over 2,200 asylum-seeking families traveling to their destination in the U.S. this year through our Cash on the Move program. The cards help families pay for food, accommodations, hygiene items and other essentials for a safe journey and give them the dignity of discretion in spending. The most vulnerable families – usually families with very young children and those traveling by bus – are prioritized.

We also advocate for the rights and humane treatment of children and families and their right to seek asylum. We have also worked closely with the Family Reunification Task Force, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the administration to ensure that unaccompanied children can be reunited with families quickly and receive the protections and services they deserve.

Over the past year, our partners across the border region have reached:

• 182,000 people (including 77,000 children) in Arizona

• 234,000 people (including over 79,000 children) in California

• 24,000 people (including over 6,800 children) in New Mexico

• 967,000 people (including over 375,000 children) in Texas

With the support of donors like you, we are committed to sustaining and scaling up our presence along the U.S. southern border in 2023.

Play area at an Arizona transit shelter.

Links:

Save the Children - U.S. Border Crisis

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Aug 5, 2022
Highlights of Save the Children's Border Response

By Save the Children | Save the Children

We support children as they cross the border.

Rampant gang violence, climate disasters and extreme poverty are forcing families from Central America to leave their homes at higher rates than witnessed in decades. Many, including unaccompanied children, have undertaken a treacherous journey to the United States’ southern border to seek refuge and safety in our nation. Children and families – some of whom have been traveling for weeks or longer – arrive here with literally nothing and are in desperate need of food, clothing and shelter, as well as healthcare, legal aid and protection services.

Save the Children's current work at the U.S.-Mexico Border features programs to protect children and to address their immediate needs through advocacy, resource support and access to child protection and psychosocial programs. Our long experience addressing the needs of displaced families around the world coupled with our specific focus on and knowledge of the needs of displaced children makes us uniquely qualified to promote and execute essential programming to keep children safe and cared for, both physically and psychologically.

We were among the first national/international NGOs to respond to the 2019 crisis and remain one of the only organizations that has programed continuously across all four states and in Mexico.
We are a trusted advisor to national, state and local governments on the needs of children in crisis. Working closely with transit shelters and other local organizations, Save the Children serves as an integral link bringing humanitarian resources to the border communities to address the new needs and gaps of shelters in serving children and families.
Working with the Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), we are leveraging our partnerships and strong advocacy arms to influence policy and long-term change for children at the Border.

In the U.S., we work to meet the needs of newly arriving families released from border authorities and transiting to U.S. destinations, prioritize programming for families traveling with children, with a special focus on the youngest children (0-12 years old), pregnant and new mothers and children with special needs. We also advocate for the protection and rights of unaccompanied children and facilitate partnerships to ensure these children have access to necessary services.

Thanks to your generous support, we are able to continue our work for children both in the U.S. and in Mexico, delivering services directly and working with local partners, including transit shelters and community organizations.

In addition to shelters, we support social service agencies and community-based partners to strengthen their ability to provide essential services such as pro bono legal support and pre- and post-natal case management.

We are also meeting families’ immediate needs with support through donations of essential goods. Our activities encompass child protection and psychological services; education; and water, sanitation and hygiene support.

Our cash assistance program has served more than 1,300 families to date and is on track to serve an additional 1,800 families – totaling 3,100 families in 2022. These emergency funds help families meet the basic needs of their children as they transit to their final destination from the border.

In the coming months, we will continue to both aid and advocate for migrant children and families in collaboration with our wide array of partners, including other NGOs, transit shelters, community organizations and grassroots volunteers – even as we seek new partnerships that can both contribute to and expand our efforts.

Supplies to support migrant children and families.

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