No child should have to wait months alone in a government shelter wondering if they’ve been forgotten. Yet today, under new Trump administration policies, vulnerable migrant children are being held in custody for over 100 days. That's more than triple the average time just a few months ago. Many of them came here fleeing danger, only to face a different kind of trauma in a system that delays and denies family reunification.

This cruelty is not an accident. In February, new policies were introduced that drastically raised the bar for who can sponsor a child, even if it's their own parent. Now, families must show documents many of them legally can’t obtain. By March and April, even more barriers were added. Children who were days from being reunited were told they’d have to wait again—indefinitely.

These policies are unjust and inhumane. One mother has watched her 8-year-old son grow hopeless in government custody, refusing to unpack his things because each promised reunion gets taken away.

The lawsuit filed by the National Center for Youth Law and Democracy Forward is a necessary step toward restoring compassion and fairness. We stand with them—and with every family torn apart by this broken system.

We demand the courts rule in favor of the plaintiffs and immediately block these harmful policies. We urge a return to reasonable reunification procedures and a firm cap on how long any child can be held alone.

These are children. They need care, love, and safety. Not bureaucracy, fear, and delay.

Sign your name to say: Enough. Let them go home.

Photo: (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)