RMIAN Family Separation Statement

RMIAN Fights for Families Impacted by Cruel Separation Policy

The separation of mothers and fathers from their children as they seek asylum in the United States is not just affecting those at the border; this tragic and horrific policy now has arrived in Colorado.

Over the last several weeks, the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) has met with dozens of parents at the Aurora immigration detention center who came to the United States seeking protection, and then were cruelly separated from their children, some as young as five years old. 

These parents describe their last memories of their children. They hear the sound of their screaming voices echo in their minds, reliving the moments when their most precious loved ones were torn from their arms. Tears stream down the faces of those recounting these traumatic moments. In a lingering state of shock, parents describe the horror of not knowing where their children are being held or who is taking care of them.

Many parents are contemplating giving up their meritorious asylum cases because they have no idea where their children are and the only thing that matters to them—in fact the reason they fled their home countries—is their children’s safety. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is taking deliberate action to induce unusually cruel suffering to asylum seekers who have come to the United States seeking refuge. RMIAN is working quickly to respond to the needs of these families and stand up against this injustice. RMIAN’s attorneys are representing individuals in detention who have been separated from their children, and RMIAN already has referred seven cases involving family separation to pro bono attorneys.

Please join us in fighting against this cruel and inhumane policy, and help us demand that our country protect the most basic of human rights---the right of a family to be together.

If you are a lawyer, please sign up to provide pro bono legal representation to those impacted by the family separation policy. Please contact RMIAN’s Detention Program Pro Bono Coordinator, Jessica Burnett – jburnett@rmian.org.

If you are bilingual and would like to serve as a volunteer interpreter or translator, please contact RMIAN’s Detention Program Paralegal, Mayra Prieto – mprieto@rmian.org.

Please donate to RMIAN’s work to ensure individuals have access to a lawyer to protect their most fundamental of rights.