Children from across the U.S. wrote nearly 3,000 letters of support to other children just like them, but who are jailed at the prison camp for migrant kids in Homestead, Florida. “You are not alone,” one letter said in Spanish. “You are important and valued.” But the children jailed at Homestead never got to read these messages of encouragement and support: officials there blocked the delivery.
“About 100 people showed up to deliver the letters. Visiting children read them to security guards and tried to hand them the envelopes. The guards ignored them and stood with their arms crossed,” the Miami Herald reported. “They said they would call a supervisor. No one came.” Organizer Joshua Rubin said groups involved in the letter drive suspected that would happen because officials have even blocked members of Congress from touring Homestead, but wanted to try anyway. “We want the world to see that people care, even if the kids never see it,” he said.
Miami Herald video shows a group of children carrying boxes of letters to the entrance of Homestead facility. Unable to hand off the letters, they read some aloud. “Hello! My name is Isa, and I live in New York,” read one letter. “I want to tell you that you are strong. I admire your courage, and you need to know that you’re not alone. We support you, everyone here at my school, and in my family. What’s happening isn’t fair. I’m going to do everything I can to help. You are important, and valued.”
Nearly 3,000 kids are jailed at Homestead, and that number could balloon to 3,200 children, making it larger than the nearby high school. Yet members of Congress have been illegally prevented from inspecting this prison camp as part of their oversight responsibilities, when staffers there told Congress members Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Donna Shalala, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell they needed to give two weeks notice first. Former Trump officials, like disgraced chief of staff John Kelly, are cashing in on this cruelty. “The center, the largest in the country, is the only facility for migrant children operated by a for-profit corporation,” Miami Herald continued.
“Detention traumatizes and harms both children and adults,” said Mariana Martinez of the American Friends Service Committee, which coordinated the letter drive with the Florida Immigrant Coalition and We Count. “It funnels money to private corporations and tears apart families and communities. The people of Homestead don’t want an economy based in the abuse of children. Instead of investing in suffering and despair, we want investment in jobs that bring sustainability and resources.” Shut Homestead down.