1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

I am a teacher, a school librarian, writing to beg you to fight for legal protections for unaccompanied minors. Some of the bravest, kindest, most determined students I've known have been unaccompanied minors. During my student teaching internship in Newport News, one of the English language learners in my class was an unaccompanied minor from Central America. With only a backpack, he had walked all the way to the border, and was now staying with a relative. This sixth grader was so eager to learn, and devoured every reading assignment I gave him, despite still working on his confidence with English. His smile lit up a room when he greeted his friends. A few years ago, I had a young first grade student who had traveled as an unaccompanied minor with her older sister. She had missed a lot of education because of her journey and the violence they fled, but was settling in to her new home happily. She soaked in new learning like a sponge, and her excitement about everything we did in class was contagious. Since Trump cut all legal services for unaccompanied migrant children on Friday, tens of thousands of kids like my students must now face the courtroom alone, with no lawyer or advocate to help them navigate the process - only those who want to see them sent back to the place they fled in danger. These children deserve safety, and they deserve advocates. Please, please don't abandon them. Please fight to protect them. Thank you so much!