Yesterday, I visited detention facilities in Clint and El Paso with a group of my colleagues, and the situation is dire: Our government is still tearing families apart, packing people into concrete-floored cells, denying them basic necessities, telling them to drink from toilets.

Meanwhile Donald Trump continues to whip up hatred and resentment in an effort to convince our country that this is acceptable, that the families suffering at our border are dangerous criminals.

They're not. Far more often, they're the victims of crime, seeking asylum in our country.

And let's be clear: No human being should ever face conditions like this – no matter who they are.

The Trump administration has abandoned any pretense of protecting people's basic human rights.

We have to step in, and fight with everything we've got for the rights of those imprisoned in our names. We've identified a group of nonprofits that are doing critical work to support those families legally and materially.

Please chip in now to protect the rights our president is trying so hard to deny. My campaign will match the first $35,000 in contributions.

More soon,

Joe

Forwarded Message

Last week, a team of lawyers emerged from a Customs and Border Patrol child detention facility in Clint, Texas with a nauseating list of human rights violations: hundreds of children packed in to a space meant for just a handful of bodies, denied toothbrushes, soap, even sleep. They described lice infestations and flu epidemics. Adolescent children tasked with caring for younger children – all of them detained for the simple fact of seeking a better life.

This isn't political. It's heart-rending, horrifying tragedy. There's no explanation that can soften this level of neglect. There's no way to excuse it or to separate ourselves. It's a crisis of trauma and human rights, orchestrated and executed by Donald Trump and his administration.

An awful truth: In Donald Trump's America, we can't count on the president to ensure or even advocate for the safety of children. We've got to fight for it ourselves, and support the people on the front lines.

We've identified a group of nonprofits that are doing critical work to support those families legally and materially. Please chip in now to protect the rights our president is trying so hard to deny. My campaign will match the first $35,000 in contributions.

Trump's Customs and Border Patrol isn't meeting the children's most basic needs – diapers, medical care, baby food – or supporting their fundamental dignity. Lawyers described toilets in plain view, denying kids even simple privacy.

And the administration is doing nothing to address the situation, choosing instead to score cheap political points by blaming Democrats or to pat themselves on the back for the "great job" they're doing.

We have to act, and we have to do it now. Standing up for human rights isn't an option. It's imperative. It's the core of our movement.

To support the fight to preserve even the most basic level of the kids' dignity, my campaign will match the first $35,000 in donations to these charities.

Joe