For World Children’s Day, Amnesty International USA has issued a callout in the form of dozens of billboards across Florida. The large yellow signs with bold black print read, “We don’t believe in locking up children. Do you?”
The billboards, posted above roadways in Homestead and Orlando, Florida, also have messages that read, “You are now 7 miles away from where kids are locked up.” The Orlando signs are about 10 miles from Disney World in hopes that the message will reach those families vacationing with their children at the international theme park, according to an Amnesty International USA news release.
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The organization, an international group focused on human rights, displayed the signage as a part of its I Welcome campaign, a billboard campaign in Florida that denounces the detention of immigrant children and promotes their safety. Florida was chosen as the launching destination for the campaign due to research collected by Amnesty International USA that purports a facility in Homestead, Florida, “violated children’s rights.”
Credit: Adam DelGiudice
Credit: Adam DelGiudice
Their research found the government detention center kept the children detained for prolonged periods in substandard conditions, according to an Amnesty International USA news release. In an interview with Newsweek, Amnesty researcher Denise Bell said if children are detained due to their immigration status, the setting should still offer the "least restrictive" environment "for the least amount of time."
The billboards include a website address, truthabouthomestead.org, which will direct those who visit it to petition the conditions on World Children's Day, which formerly was known as Universal Children's Day.
“World Children’s Day is a day for children, yet children in this very country are denied their freedom,” said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA. “These kids should be with their families, their loved ones, and their communities, instead they are locked away in facilities like Homestead with no foreseeable end in sight. This World Children’s Day, we have used our resources to open people’s eyes to the truth so that they can take action for these kids’ freedom. People can no longer say that they did not know.”
World Children’s Day, which is Nov. 20, honors the day in 1959 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. On this date in 1989, the General Assembly also adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which guarantees children’s rights around the world.
