A child’s life should be defined by playgrounds, curiosity, and discovery, not fear, confinement, and uncertainty.
That was the message from Stacey Abrams in an emotional appeal supporting efforts to end family detention across the United States, where she argued that the treatment of children reflects not only national policy but national values.
“We are better people than that. We are better Americans than that,” Abrams said in a campaign video shared by the National Domestic Workers Alliance as part of its Read Them Home initiative.
Her remarks have become a rallying point in the campaign’s call to end child and family detention nationwide, framing the issue not solely as an immigration debate but as a question about childhood itself.
“When we allow fear and confinement to be the markers of childhood and not joy and exploration, we are not only hurting the children, we’re hurting our future,” Abrams said.
The advocacy campaign, which references detention facilities from Delaney Hall in New Jersey to Dilley, Texas, argues that children should remain with families and communities rather than spend formative years in detention settings.
Abrams tied her advocacy to a story she said deeply affected her, an account she read involving an 18-month-old child who reportedly became seriously ill while in detention.
According to Abrams, what initially appeared to be a manageable medical issue later involved more severe illnesses including COVID-19, RSV, and pneumonia.
For Abrams, the story represented something larger than one family’s experience.
“Read Them Home is about making sure that that child, when she reads about her story, she reads about the people who did everything in their power to read her home,” she said.
Supporters of the campaign argue that family detention can create lasting emotional and developmental consequences for children, while advocates for reform have increasingly pushed for community-based alternatives that keep families together.
Abrams also framed the issue as one tied to long-term national wellbeing, suggesting that the experiences children carry into adulthood ultimately shape society itself.
“Read Them Home and the work we are doing to end child and family detention is about how we build strong children today, resilience tomorrow, and the best democracy possible for all of us,” she said.
As the debate over immigration and detention policies continues nationwide, Abrams’ comments place the focus on a more intimate question: what kind of childhood a nation chooses to protect, and what future it chooses to build.
For supporters of the campaign, the answer begins with one belief, that every child deserves the freedom to grow, learn, play, and return home with family.
