The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States

According to The Marshall Project, more than 300,000 children were detained at the US–Mexico border in 2019, with more than 40 percent of those children held longer than the legally mandated 72-hour limit. While the media has covered the appalling conditions these children face, including separation from their families and unsanitary facilities, the stories of the individual children have gone largely untold. Now, Workman Publishing is partnering with Project Amplify, a national campaign launched to establish legal protections for children detained by the government, to amplify the voices of these children in Hear My Voice: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States / Escucha mi voz: Los testimonios de niños detenidos en la frontera sur de los Estados Unidos (Workman Publishing; April 13, 2021; $19.95 US; hardcover with dust jacket).

Compiled by international children’s advocate Warren Binford for Project Amplify, with a foreword by Michael Garcia Bochenek of Human Rights Watch, all royalties from the book will go to Project Amplify to support efforts to create legal protections for children in migration who arrive in the US. For more information please visit https://www.workman.com/products/hear-my-voice-escucha-mi-voz

A moving picture book for older children and families, Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz is one book—English on one side, Spanish on the other, with both languages meeting in the middle. The voices of real children, taken from publicly available court documents, are paired with the powerful artwork of 17 Mexican and Mexican American artists, including Pura Belpré Award and Caldecott medal winner Yuyi Morales (Dreamers) and Pura Belpré Award winner Raúl the Third (Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market).

Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz also includes a foreword by Michael Garcia Bochenek, senior counsel to the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, and further information from Warren Binford, a lawyer and children’s rights advocate. Both have been on the front lines of this issue. The back matter puts the detention at the border in the larger context of immigration reform and includes resources and discussion questions for readers and their families, including information on ways they can help.

These innocent voices have gone unheard for too long. Offering an opportunity to better understand human migration and children’s rights, Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz compassionately introduces this difficult topic while providing an urgent call to action and simple steps to help. In addition, royalties from the book will directly benefit children in migration, so anyone who picks up this book will make a difference.

Official website: https://www.workman.com/products/hear-my-voice-escucha-mi-voz

SHARE ON FACEBOOK SHARE ON TWITTER

About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.