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Recent headlines describing unsafe conditions that immigrant children are being exposed to at the U.S. southern border have alarmed us as they have many pediatricians. We must make immediate, permanent changes to the way we treat immigrant children when they come here. Thread: 1/
Our own policy is clear: pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/139/5/…. This is what it calls for: 2/
Children should not be detained; no amount of detention is safe for a child. 3/
Children fleeing violence have a right to seek asylum in the United States. 4/
At a minimum, children must be guaranteed basic humanitarian standards when they are in federal custody. 5/
All Customs and Border Protection facilities that hold children must provide medical care, adequate nutrition, including clean drinking water, shelter, infant formula and baby food, access to hygiene, including showers and handwashing, and essential items like diapers. 6/
Children should never be separated from their parents or caregivers unless a competent family court determines it. 7/
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement should be adequately funded to care and provide post-release services for unaccompanied children. 8/
This is our policy and our call to action. This week, @AAPPres and AAP President-Elect @SallyGoza are at the border. We continue to meet with administration officials to urge them to address this humanitarian crisis. 9/
We are calling on our 67,000 pediatrician members to reach out Congress today and tell them to require humanitarian standards for children in CBP custody as part of a final emergency funding package. 10/
We are pediatricians. We care for – and speak up for - ALL children. 11/end
