Through Tears, 12-Year-Old Leah Delivers Speech on 'Constant Fear' of Losing Her Immigrant Mother

As is becoming a theme at nationwide rallies, the most poignant speech today came not from a celebrity or politician but from a child explaining the daily terror of living under the Trump administration. In Washington D.C., in front of an estimated 30,000 people, 12-year-old activist Leah from Miami spoke about what it’s like to “live in constant fear” that ICE will take her mother, a nanny and an immigrant.

“Why do they hurt us like this?” she said, crying. “It is unfair that they get to spend time with their families today while there are children in detention centers and in cages all around missing their parents who are thrown in jail.”

Donald Trump is holing up in his New Jersey lair.

Read the full speech below:

I am here today because the government is separating and detaining refugee parents and children at the border who are looking for safety. Our government also continues to separate U.S. citizen children like me from their parents every day. This is evil! It needs to stop! It makes me sad to know that children can’t be with their parents. I don’t understand why they are being so mean to us children. Don’t they know how much we love our families? Don’t they have a family too? Why don’t they care about us children?

Why do they hurt us like this? It is unfair that they get to spend time with their families today while there are children in detention centers and in cages all around missing their parents who are thrown in jail.

I live in the constant fear of losing my mom to deportation. My mom is strong, beautiful, and brave. She is also a person who taught me how to speak up when I see things that aren’t fair. ICE wants to take away my mom from me. I don’t want to live with this fear. It’s scary. I can’t sleep. I can’t study. I am stressed. I am afraid that they will take my mom away while she is at work, out driving or at home. I don’t understand why this administration won’t support mothers who just want a better life for their children. This needs to change!

We cannot allow them to keep hurting families, communities, and children. I know that together, we can make things better for families and kids. I want to be an example to other kids who are going through the same problems as me. I want to tell kids at the border and all over the country not to give up and fight for their families. We are all human! And deserve to be loved and cared for! We are children! Our government has to do the right thing and stop separating us from our parents. And stop locking us up. I won’t give up fighting for the right to stay with my mom. I am not asking for a favor! It is my right to stay as a child! To live in peace with my mother and the rest of my family!