Migrants and refugees leave harsh and dangerous conditions in their own countries to seek safety and a better life abroad. However, they are increasingly met with complex laws to navigate, discrimination, and inhumane treatment at international borders. We have seen migrants and refugees be turned away from Australia and detained and those who reach the EU be held in facilities in Greece and Italy. As these practices increase, the hope for refugees seeking asylum and migrants, who are often victims of forced displacement, dwindles.

The atrocities being perpetrated against migrants and refugees at the US border are inhumane, unacceptable, and representative of this pattern of discrimination and human rights violations against migrants and refugees around the world. Thousands of children have been separated from their parents with whom they entered the country with no guarantee of being permanently reunited or released. The long-term impact on the physical and mental health of these children cannot be overstated, as have noted doctors and mental health professionals who have denounced the practice. The “zero-tolerance” policy being implemented criminalizes the presence of asylum seekers in the country, denying them the right to international protection.

The People’s Health Movement-USA condemns this treatment of migrants and refugees in the strongest way, and we call for it to be stopped immediately. We cannot stand for policies that continue to violate US law, international law, and basic human rights and dignity.

We call for ICE to be abolished, for immediate reuniting of families, and for policies and law that respect the humanity and dignity of all people. We urge people to join mass movements occurring across the country, to contact your senators and representatives, and to support local organizations who are working to reunite families and end these hateful and inhumane practices.

We stand in solidarity with migrants, refugees, and displaced people in the US and around the world who seek better lives for themselves and their families and with the global movement to end the the discrimination and inhumane treatment they face.

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Public Health Awakened has compiled an action document that they will update as new information is available. We encourage you to consult this document frequently and make your voice heard however you can.

Find a June 30th #FamiliesBelongTogether march or rally near you: