Los Tweens is proud to share with our readers this holiday drive to brighten the holiday season for immigrant children who are spending the season alone in U.S. detention centers.
Imagine your tween being threatened and surrounded by violence so heinous that it is unsafe for them to travel even to school. What would you do? What would they do?
Sadly, this is the reason many children in our U.S. detention system have fled their homes. According to an article last month in the Los Angeles Times, the number of unaccompanied immigrant children in the United States has risen by 50% in the past two years. The rise is attributed to increased gang violence in Central America with the largest increases in children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. In 2011, there were more than 10,000 children in government custody. See the info graphic above for more information.
For these children who have experienced so much at such a young age, there are no gifts under the tree, no heaping plates of food, no family and no friends. But Americans for Immigrant Justice, American Immigration Lawyer Association South Florida Chapter and Los Tweens want to change that. Americans for Immigrant Justice will be hosting a holiday parties at the Miami children’s shelters and need your help to make them happen.
We are asking for tween/teen (ages 7-17) appropriate gifts (purchase items off of the Amazon Wish List OR see the suggested gift list and drop off points below) AND/OR monetary donations (be sure to designate your donation to the “Detained Children Holiday Party”) to cover the party expenses. Please make all donations by Tuesday, December 11th.
Together we can make the lives of all tweens a little better this holiday season.
Saludos y Abrazos,
Suggested Gift List:
View the Amazon Wish List or MP3 players, Target or Walmart gift cards, baseball hats, interactive toys, beauty and health products, headphones, video games, arts and crafts, coloring books, personal DVD players
Drop Off Locations:
Americans for Immigrant Justice
3000 Biscayne Boulevard Ste. 400
Miami, FL 33137
AILA S. FL Holiday Party on December 11th
Morton’s Brickell
OR contact Jessica Gomez for more locations jgomez@aijustice.org, 305.573.1106 ext. 1103.
For more information on Americans for Immigrant Justice please visit www.aijustice.org.
