Dear Friends,
Today while many of us were spending time with our families and celebrating our freedom, there are tens of thousands of people detained along the US-Mexico Border, added to that the thousands of children that have been forcibly separated from their families. Freedom for them seems like a distant dream, not reality.
As an organization that works daily to level the playing field for Latinx and immigrant youth and their families, we can no longer remain silent as part of our community is imprisoned. Mission Graduates believes in our vibrant community, and we must stand together with the larger Latinx and immigrant community during this time.
Mission Graduates is not an advocacy organization, nor are we directly working along the border, yet we will see the effects in the community for many years to come. Each day that children do not have access to basic human rights adds to that inequity and will be another day that the playing field becomes less of a reality.
However, this is not about policy; it is about human decency for all people. For that reason, we urge our government to consider the irreversible harm it is causing children and families. We plead for an immediate reversal of forcibly separating children from their families and cease inhumane practices and living conditions in all detention centers.
We know that education is a means of leveling the playing field. Children and families along the border are not being affordable their basic human rights-let alone rights to an education- which is the strongest means to economic equity.
To our supporters, we know you support Mission Graduates, and the work we do; now we are asking you to join us and speak out. We can no longer remain silent.
To those of you in our community, please know we see you, we hear you, and we will fight for you. We will continue to work daily to level the playing field and provide economic equity. If you or someone you know needs help navigating resources, we are always here to help.
In Justice,
Eddie