1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

Arthur Berto, a middle-school student whose family fled Brazil seeking asylum, was arrested by local police in Everett, MA after what they called a credible threat. Before his mother could reach the station, federal agents had already taken him. There was no notice, no court order, no access to counsel. By nightfall, Arthur was in ICE custody and transferred hundreds of miles away to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia. This was not a clerical mistake. It was a deliberate act of power. The Department of Homeland Security publicly claimed Arthur was armed. However, Everett’s mayor and *police chief* disputed that, stating that *no gun was ever found.* A federal judge has since ordered ICE to either justify his detention or release him. The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution is clear. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. It does not say citizen. It says person. The guarantee of fairness belongs to every human being under the authority of this government, including children. The Supreme Court affirmed in In re Gault (1967) that minors are entitled to due process protections equal to those of adults. In Zadvydas v. Davis (2001), the Court ruled that indefinite detention of non-citizens violates constitutional due process. In Reno v. Flores (1993), it recognized that the detention of children must meet a strict standard of necessity and care. Do you believe a thirteen-year-old child should be treated as a criminal threat? Please begin a congressional investigation into ICE’s juvenile detention policies immediately, publicly release all related transfer records, and institute a moratorium on the use of private contractors for detainee transport. I am proud of the citizens, mayors, governors, and entire communities that have chosen to resist. They remind me that compassion is a form of courage and that empathy is an act of resistance. Their example proves that moral leadership still exists in this country, even when the institutions of power have lost their direction. History will judge not only those who ordered the act, but also those who chose silence. The time for neutrality has passed.