Children are losing hope in ORR custody.
Our staff work closely with unaccompanied and separated children and see the toll this fear and uncertainty takes every day.
Swipe through to read more about what children are carrying: fear of losing family, the stress of prolonged detention, and the hopelessness that can take over when childhood is put on hold. No child should have to live like this.
Contact Congress and demand action to end prolonged detention for children in ORR custody. Link in bio.
#ChildhoodonHold
For many unaccompanied and separated children, there is no clear end to their time in ORR custody.
Policies meant to protect them are doing the opposite. New barriers are making it harder for family members and trusted sponsors to come forward, leaving children stuck in facilities never meant for long-term care.
Prolonged detention deepens trauma, isolates children from their support systems, and can pressure them to give up their legal casses and return to danger.
Congress has the authority to act. Contact your members of Congress and demand action to end the indefinite detention of the most vulnerable. Link in bio.
#ChildhoodonHold
For many unaccompanied children, detention comes after they have already survived violence, separation, and fear.
Instead of helping them heal, prolonged ORR detention can make that trauma worse. Children lose routine, connection, autonomy, and the small comforts that help them feel safe.
This is what KIND staff witness every day.
Children should not be left to carry trauma inside a system that was never meant to hold them this long. Join us in urging Congress to conduct oversight into prolonged ORR detention. Link in bio.
#ChildhoodonHold
200 days.
That's how long an unaccompanied child seeking asylum can wait in detention just to get back to their family.
While loved ones are attempting to reunite with their children, the government is making that process more complex than it should be by requiring DNA tests, making federal office appointments, and waiting for necessary paperwork that takes months.
These are blatant walls designed to keep children scared and families frightened of potential deportation. While families are using habeas corpus petitions to fight back, this will undoubtedly cause trauma to these families for years to come.
👉 Link in bio to read full story.
“No one takes my feelings into account because I am a child.”
A child said this while in detention.
They are describing fear, isolation, and prolonged detention while waiting for safety and legal protection. No child should feel invisible in a system meant to protect them.
Congress must conduct oversight, and make sure children are not left waiting in harm.
Urge Congress to act. Link in bio
#ChildhoodonHold
This #MothersDay, as many families gather together, too many immigrant children are still living with uncertainty, separation, and years of waiting.
Junior knows what that waiting feels like. He left Honduras at 13 with one hope, to finally meet his mother. Their reunion was overwhelming, but his path forward was anything but simple.
His story is about a mother and son reunited, but it’s also about what children need after reunion. Legal protection, stability, and the chance to plan for their future.
Link in bio to read Junior’s full story.
No child chooses to be here.
When KIND lawyers sit across from children in ORR detention, they meet kids who are carrying far more than they should. A teenager who feels guilty for leaving home. A child counting the days on a calendar. A kid asking when they can see family again.
None of this is their fault.
Children are now spending an average of more than 190 days in ORR custody. That means months of waiting, uncertainty, and fear during a time when they should be healing, learning, and growing.
No child should have to lose part of their childhood to prolonged detention. Learn more about how prolonged ORR detention harms unaccompanied children and threatens their due process.
#ChildhoodonHold
Months in detention can blur a child’s sense of self. KIND’s Tess shares the story of a teenager who began to forget his teachers, his friends, and who he was while held in detention.
Urge U.S. Congress to oversee ORR and change policies that keep children in prolonged detention, isolated from the support and stability they need. Link in bio to act.
#ChilhoodonHold
They carry grief, fear, and uncertainty, sometimes all at once.
Unaccompanied children often flee violence, danger, and other grave harm, only to face new challenges as they navigate a complex legal system alone.
Legal protection is critical. So is psychosocial care, the emotional support that helps children feel safe, process what they’ve experienced, and begin to heal.
This #MentalHealthMonth, we’re reminding decision makers that protecting children means treating them as children. It means making space for their healing, dignity, and hope.
Learn more about KIND’s psychosocial support. Link in bio.
🚨Children as young as four are being rushed through immigration court, sometimes within days, without the time or legal support they need to understand what’s happening.
For kids who’ve already experienced trauma, this pressure is overwhelming. Attorneys need time to build trust. Children need time to share their stories. Due process requires time.
Instead, we’re seeing a system that speeds up deportation while children spend months in government custody.
This is not what protection looks like.
Children deserve fair hearings, real legal support, and the chance to be heard before decisions about their future are made.
#ChildhoodOnHold
No child should have their childhood put on hold.
Right now, children are spending months in government custody—waiting, separated from family, and navigating a system they don’t understand.
Without a lawyer, children are left to make life-altering decisions alone, often without clear information, support, or a real chance to be heard.
This is what Childhood on Hold looks like. Share to raise awareness. #ChildhoodonHold
