Share this:

5.5 million children in the U.S. live with the fear that one or both of their parents could be deported. Over the past ten years, this fear has become a reality for more than 100,000 children.¹

This climate of fear affects all of our families and communities. We are writing to invite you to participate in a campaign called A Wish for the Holidays. Together, we will raise the voices of thousands of children with one unified wish: an end to deportations so that all families can stay together.

Help us collect 5,000 letters that can help keep families together.

We are asking children and youth to write letters about why families should be able to stay together. We will collect these letters and deliver them to the Obama Administration and key leaders in Congress in time for the holidays and International Human Rights Day.

• Can you pledge to collect letters written by children and youth? Letter-writing can happen schools, youth groups, childcare centers, and homes. www.webelongtogether.org/wish includes background materials, activity guides, and all the information you’ll need to collect and mail in letters.
• Can you forward this letter to your contacts and encourage them to get involved?
• Will your organization co-sponsor the campaign? This means being listed as a co-sponsor on our website, and helping to mobilize your constituency. You can sign up to sponsor at www.webelongtogether.org/wish.

A Wish for the Holidays is a campaign of We Belong Together, a collaboration of women’s and immigrant rights groups dedicated to highlighting the impact of immigration enforcement on women, children and communities.

Join us in making a wish. Please go to www.webelongtogether.org/wish to get started.

Contact Lisa Moore, lisa@domesticworkers.org, if you would like to discuss your organization’s participation in this campaign.

1. Of the 5.5 million children in the U.S. who have one or more undocumented parents, approximately ¾ are U.S. citizens. Federal government programs like 287g and Secure Communities have resulted in collaboration between local law enforcement and immigration officials, increasing a climate of fear for children and their families.
Statistics from Facing our Future: Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement, The Urban Institute, February, 2010 http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/412020_FacingOurFuture_final.pdf