Dear John,

In February 2025, a Venezuelan-American lawyer named Beatriz received an order from the Interior Department to the nonprofit where she worked: stop all work. 

Beatriz represents unaccompanied children who are going through immigration proceedings alone. They have no parents with them, no protection, no one to speak for them. Some are extremely young—younger even than Beatriz herself was when she came here undocumented at the age of eight, after her family fled violence and political persecution in Venezuela. 

The stop-work order disrupted everything Beatriz does to defend and guide these children. It left children without anyone to advocate for them. 

Beatriz, who is now an American citizen, became a lawyer to bring empathy and understanding to the immigration process. Now, her heart breaks as she sees children’s lives thrown into chaos as their caregivers are detained by ICE. Beatriz routinely sees children who are scared to go to school or even leave the house. 

“Pretty much every one of these children has a deep sense that the U.S. is no longer a safe place for them,” Beatriz shared. 

We recently featured Beatriz’s story in our new report analyzing and contextualizing the anti-immigrant actions of the Trump administration. Her experience shows the devastating human cost of these policies and why the American Immigration Council will continue standing up for immigrants’ rights and pushing back against these dangerous and harmful policies.  

Your gift today is more important than ever. Together, we can give these children and immigrants across the country the safety, respect, and hope they deserve. 

With hope and gratitude, 

The American Immigration Council Team 

P.S. The children Beatriz supports have been overlooked and forgotten by the system. We have the power, together, to create a fairer, more just immigration system—one built on empathy, not cruelty.