Is This How We Treat Children?

My family and I left Iran when I was 8 years old and eventually made our way to the United States. Today there are thousands of children who have fled from some of the most dangerous places in the world and are now detained throughout the country. Some have made the treacherous journey here alone, others are part of families that are seeking safety together.

I'm now the parent of two boys – 7 and 10. I think about my journey to the U.S. and I look at my kids, and I know that we have to approach refugee children with humanity and an eye to due process protections provided by our Constitution. That is why the ACLU of California is asking our supporters to call Senator Diane Feinstein and ask her to stand with refugee children.

You see, right now some members of Congress are trying to gut protections for asylum seekers in order to systematically turn children away at our borders. Given different circumstances, these refugee children could have been me, my kids, or your nieces or nephews.

These members of Congress want to strip portions of a law called the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which created basic safeguards for children fleeing violence and persecution from around the world, including Central America. Among these safeguards is the requirement that all children must be given a court hearing to determine if they have a legal claim to stay in the country, rather than be deported.

This law is consistent with our most cherished principles of fairness and due process. And, it helps to ensure that we do not send children back to countries where they face persecution, torture, and even death.

Short-changing these children means short-changing our fundamental American values.

Please call Senator Feinstein and ask her to uphold the rights of refugee children.

Abdi Soltani is the Executive Director of the ACLU of Northern California.