Children's Defense Fund-Texas

03/30/2025

This account will close on March 31! Stay connected with CDF-Texas by following CDF’s national accounts and signing up for emails on our local efforts in Texas: https://bit.ly/4iEp5fE. We’ll continue sharing updates and highlights of our work!

03/26/2025

As of March 21st, the Acacia Center for Justice () reports that "the Trump administration has abruptly slashed legal services for unaccompanied children, completely terminating funding for legal counsel for 26,000 children. This will force thousands of children, some too young to read or write, to represent themselves alone in court before an immigration judge and against a trained government lawyer." This move comes at the same time that the administration "plans to ramp up the deportation and detention of children."

Take action now to protect kids by clicking here to send letters to your representatives: https://bit.ly/4j22U30.

Their offices can make a difference by asking ask HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to immediately restore legal services for unaccompanied children, and demanding that the Trump administration rescind the termination of the Unaccompanied Children Program.

03/11/2025

Last week, we learned that the Department of Homeland Security is reopening two detention facilities in Dilley and Karnes City, Texas to jail immigrant families. Even brief detention can be traumatizing for children and create negative, long-term impacts on their physical and mental health that continue after they are released. Research shows detained children experience developmental delays, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Additionally, the two facilities in Dilley and Karnes have a documented history of neglect and abuse.

"Jailing children, including babies, is unconscionable," says senior administrator of policy and advocacy for CDF-Texas, Trudy Taylor Smith. "All children deserve safety, dignity, and care. Instead of spending taxpayer money to put children and their parents behind bars in inhumane conditions, our state and federal leaders should focus on protecting children and families by funding access to the health care, nutrition assistance, and other resources they need to thrive."

Click here to read CDF-Texas' press release expressing concern about the dangers that family detention poses to children: https://bit.ly/4ijHGO9

02/26/2025

Children's Defense Fund and CDF-Texas are proud to support the American Dream and Promise Act, which would create pathways to citizenship for many immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children, as well as individuals who have been granted temporary protections from removal based on crisis conditions in their home countries. Click here to read more about the bill & why we endorse it: https://bit.ly/4ihzOfW

02/26/2025

Based on our commitment to child well-being, CDF-Texas has joined more than 260 groups nationwide in opposing the current House Budget Resolution, which lays out a roadmap for legislation that would slash vital resources and services for children and their families while funding immigration enforcement policies that harm children in immigrant families. Click here to read the letter we've signed, calling on members of Congress to vote against this proposed budget: https://bit.ly/3F4TdSJ

02/22/2025

This week, we learned of the tragic death of Texas sixth grader Jocelynn Rojo Carranza, who took her own life earlier this month after she was bullied by classmates who threatened to report her family to ICE. All children deserve to feel safe at school and to experience a sense of belonging in their communities. Jocelynn's story is a vivid and heartbreaking example of the intense distress that mass deportations and other policies targeting immigrant families inflict on their children. Advocating on behalf of children has never been more urgent and important, and CDF-Texas remains committed to working for a world in which all children can grow up with dignity, hope, and joy. Click here to read the press release from one of our partner organizations in response to this heartbreaking news: https://bit.ly/432B4z9

02/11/2025

On his first day back in office, President Trump announced an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for certain children born in the U.S. based on their parents' immigration status. Under this order, a child would be denied citizenship at birth if their father is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and their mother is either undocumented or has a temporary status in the U.S. This order violates fundamental constitutional protections and puts the rights and well-being of hundreds of thousands of children at risk. Read our latest blog post to learn more about why citizenship rights are so important and how denying children their constitutional right to citizenship would harm children, families, and communities across the country, weakening the social fabric of our nation: https://bit.ly/3Cy1qhK

02/06/2025

Children rely on Medicaid for a healthy start, but Congress is rushing through $2.3 trillion in cuts to Medicaid that would put millions of children at risk of losing access to early screening and detection. These cuts will strip health insurance from millions of families, pushing them towards bankruptcy and placing them one medical emergency away from crushing medical debt. Call your member now at 866-426-2631 and tell them to STOP CUTS TO MEDICAID.

Here’s a sample phone script you can use when you call:

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My name is [NAME] and I live in [Town/City], Texas.

I am calling because Congressional leaders are currently negotiating a budget resolution, and I’m worried about deep cuts to Medicaid and other programs such as ACA subsidies and SNAP that will cut off millions of children from access to medical care when they need it. I urge you to protect Medicaid and other health care programs that keep children and their families healthy.

Medicaid in Texas allows children, seniors, people with disabilities, pregnant people, and adults with low incomes to get the health care they need. Medicaid covers over 4 million Texans, including around 3 million kids. Texas already has the nation’s highest rate of uninsured children, which is why I hope you will vote "no" on cuts to Medicaid.

Nationally, Medicaid provides health coverage for 36.8 million children and 41% of births. It's also a consistently popular program that benefits all Texans by keeping rural hospitals open, supporting job growth, and ultimately saving taxpayer dollars.

Will [Representative OR Senator] [Last Name] vote “no” on cuts to Medicaid to make sure their constituents—especially children—can stay healthy and get the care they need, when they need it?

• [IF NO ANSWER/ANSWERING MACHINE]: Provide your contact phone number and ask them to call you back as soon as possible.

• [IF YES]: Thank them for their support:

• [IF NOT SURE/NONCOMMITAL] Ask them what their priorities are, and when they expect to make a decision about whether or not they will vote to protect Medicaid. Tell them you will follow up with their office to check on the status of this request. [And then follow up!]

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Every voice matters. Thank you for raising yours to protect the health and well-being of Texas children and families!

01/22/2025

Amid LA’s historic wildfires, Latino families stepped up to protect their community. Yet the now threatens them. CDF opposes this harmful bill, passed by the House and Senate and now headed to the President's desk. Read why in Luz Media:

While immigrant and Latino communities rally to save LA, the Laken Riley Act threatens them with what advocates and legal experts warn are overly broad policing actions.