“…we remain deeply concerned about what has and will happen to the more than 2,000 children who have already been separated from their families, as well as what has and will happen to the families yet to be detained. Family detention also harms children – and indeed, there is an existing court ruling that limits the duration of child detentions, in acknowledgement of the harm they cause to children’s positive growth and development.”

NAEYC’s Statement on #FamiliesBelongTogether, June 18, 2018

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“Sudden, forcible separation of children from their parents is deeply traumatic for both. Above and beyond the visible distress ‘on the outside,’ this overwhelming experience triggers a massive biological stress response inside the child, which remains activated until that familiar caregiver returns. Even more important, continuing separation removes the most important resource a child can possibly have to buffer the effects of toxic stress—a responsive adult who’s totally devoted to that child’s well-being. Stated simply, each day we fail to return these children to their parents, we compound the harm and increase its lifelong consequences.”

Jack P. Shonkoff, Founding Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, June 20, 2018

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“In 2017, the AAP published a policy statement that immigrant children seeking safe haven in the United States should never be placed in detention facilities. Studies of detained immigrants have shown that children and parents may suffer negative physical and emotional symptoms from detention, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Conditions in U.S. detention facilities, which include forcing children to sleep on cement floors, open toilets, constant light exposure, insufficient food and water, no bathing facilities, and extremely cold temperatures, are traumatizing for children.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics, June 20, 2018

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“Research evidence demonstrates that immigration practices that separate children and families, such as ‘zero-tolerance’ policies, have disastrous consequences for children. Splitting children from their families can create needless child trauma, putting thousands of children at risk for unhealthy development that can have serious consequences throughout life.”

The Foundation for Child Development, June 27, 2018