Podcast Summary: “How to Protect Kids from ICE”

We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle – August 19, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of "We Can Do Hard Things" brings together host Glennon Doyle, Shayna Aber (Executive Director, Acacia Center for Justice), and Lillian Aponte Miranda (Executive Director, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project) for a deep, urgent conversation on the escalating targeting of immigrant children and families by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The discussion centers on how ordinary people can take action to bear witness, protect vulnerable children in their communities, and join an “irresistible revolution” for immigrant justice and collective liberation.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Framing the Crisis: Hope Amid Relentless Cruelty

• Glennon opens the discussion by framing the moment as one of “relentless cruelty” toward immigrant children and families, recognizing the emotional toll on all involved.
• She stresses the importance of hope:

  “Hopelessness results not from being in terrible circumstances, but from being in terrible circumstances and believing that no one cares.” (04:38)

• Presents the “Freedom Fleet” metaphor: A fleet of causes moving together towards collective liberation, emphasizing unity in action rather than division amongst advocates.

  “The only thing we yell at other ships is, hell, yes, keep going. Do you need any snacks?” (09:15)

2. Generational Struggle & the Power of Witness

• Shayna shares personal and family history of activism, linking the current immigrant justice movement to the Civil Rights movement.
• She recounts how, in the 1960s, young civil rights workers bore witness by documenting abuses and writing home, which helped catalyze national change.
• Emphasizes how today’s “support group of moms” and activists can be powerful in their observation and storytelling.

  “It is about leaning in to our values, to our constitutional freedom, and recapturing and amplifying our sense of humanity and justice. Especially now, in a time when the narrative arc of those in power is telling us that safety requires performative cruelty and dispossession.” (15:15)

3. What’s Happening to Children & Families

• Lillian explains the heartbreaking realities on the ground:

  • ICE raids are separating children from caretakers, leaving them alone and often placing them back in immigration detention.
  • Requirements for family reunification have become so onerous (like DNA tests or state ID for potential guardians) that they amount to “family separation by other means.” (24:00)
  • Children are spending longer in detention and being fast-tracked through court without meaningful representation.
  • There is no public defender system for kids in immigration court; even toddlers may stand alone before a judge.

  “That can be a one-year-old child, that can be a five-year-old child…sitting at a courtroom in a table by themselves, going up against a trained government prosecutor, facing the full force of the U.S. Government alone.” (26:53)

• Shayna contextualizes the legal fight:

  • Legal protections and funding—built over decades—are under coordinated attack.
  • Immigration courts have lost independence, and advocacy organizations are losing the resources to defend children.

4. Addressing Common Arguments & Misconceptions

• Are these kids “just abandoned” by bad parents?

  • Lillian shares personal case stories to debunk the myth of “bad parents,” explaining many children arrive alone due to impossible choices and extreme danger at home.

  “When you see a child who is here alone, something has gone terribly wrong. An impossible decision has been made.” (32:00)

• Why not “come here legally”?

  • The legal immigration system is extremely limited, slow, complex, and under attack. Existing humanitarian pathways are increasingly blocked.

  “There is an intentional and directed assault on even the pathways that exist right now…what’s happening is that the administration is bypassing our legal system.” (40:15)

• Children Alone in Court

  • Shayna and Glennon detail the emotional trauma of watching children—some as young as two—attempt to navigate court alone:

  Glennon: “I saw a two or three year old boy be brought in, be sat down at a table. Just a courtroom like you see in TV, very intimidating…no lawyer.” (43:50)
  “The court reporter kept leaving—to go cry in the waiting room because she couldn’t believe what was happening.” (45:41)
  “If you are lucky enough to be a parent who cannot imagine having to make that decision, then that makes you a lucky parent, not a better parent.” (47:35)

Community Action: What Can We Do?

Practical Steps and the 'Witness for Justice' Initiative

5. Bearing Witness & Organizing Locally

• Shayna issues an invitation:

  “I am calling on you today to help us in a new initiative…called Witness for Justice. I’m calling on you to join us in the courthouses in your communities. People who are trying to see their immigration cases through must not be disappeared.” (48:46)

• Witness for Justice aims to place volunteer observers in immigration courts, promote transparency, and document abuses for public accountability.
• The power of writing—letters, op-eds, social media—is emphasized in amplifying what’s witnessed.

6. Tangible Actions for Listeners

• Stay informed: Follow the Florence Project, Acacia, and local immigrant rights organizations.
• Activate: Respond to calls for advocacy, especially demands for Congress to restore legal aid funding for children.
• Use your talents:

  “If you are an artist, do art. If you are a writer, write. Use your voice and write. Write an op-ed. Put your voice into the space.” (53:14)

• Host family conversations, community fundraisers, and book clubs (e.g., reading Solito by Javier Zamora).
• Volunteer: Accompany children to school registration if parents are afraid, amplify stories, or join advocacy at the courthouse.

7. “Hold On to Our Humanity”

• Glennon closes with the importance of small acts of courage and refusing to become numb.

  “If we allow this dehumanization…we have to do these things not just to change power, but so that we don’t stop remembering how precious and beautiful life is.” (60:08)

• She recounts the story of the man holding a candle during the Vietnam War:

  “I don’t come here every night to change them. I come here every night with my tiny little candle so that they don’t change me.” (59:29)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Glennon Doyle:

  “We are not the resistance. The dam builders are the resistance. We just have to harness the power of the river.” (08:12)

• Shayna Aber:

  “In protecting the rights of our immigrant communities…we are also protecting our democracy and the rights of everyone in this country.” (30:55)

• Lillian Aponte Miranda:

  “We are capable of...a humane process of migration, immigration, border management and reception. Part of the task ahead of us too at a moment like this is to reimagine potentially what a different path looks like moving forward.” (41:17)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:38] The “Freedom Fleet” & Hope
• [10:05] Shayna ties historic activism to today’s struggle
• [23:00] Why are kids being separated? Explanation of ICE actions
• [26:53] Legal aid defunding, fast-tracked deportations, lack of representation for children
• [32:00] Real stories of “unaccompanied kids” and debunking “bad parent” myth
• [40:15] Challenges and attacks on legal immigration pathways
• [43:50] Glennon’s firsthand witnessing of children alone in court
• [48:46] Call to action: Witness for Justice
• [53:14] Ways for individuals to get involved and use personal talents
• [59:29] Vigil and the importance of not being changed by cruelty

Tone & Final Thoughts

The conversation is urgent, vulnerable, and compassionate, blending clear, factual information with personal storytelling and calls to moral action. Each speaker returns to the themes of hope, collective power, and the necessity of refusing to become numb or isolated in the face of systemic injustice.

Resources & Next Steps

• Sign up to volunteer & learn more:
  • Witness for Justice (Acacia Center)
  • Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project
  • Local immigration advocacy organizations
• Books recommended:
  • Solito by Javier Zamora
• Concrete actions:
  • Bear witness at local immigration courts, write letters, organize community fundraisers, accompany children, engage in conversations at home, and use your skills to amplify the cause.