With all the discussion over immigration and refugees that has been in the news in recent weeks, it becomes easy to overlook the fact that behind all the politics there are real families in need, made up of mothers and fathers and children. Many of these kids, with their residency status in limbo, are living in immigration-detention centers — and will be for the foreseeable future. With the holidays fast approaching, it’s a bleak reality that the majority of these children will be spending the season in the centers, separated from loved ones.But one immigration-advocacy group is doing what it can to brighten the kids’ spirits. We Belong Together , a woman-focused group advocating for humane immigration policy, is organizing a letter-writing campaign connecting children in the detention centers with children outside. The campaign, called A Wish for the Holidays , asks kids of all ages to write letters and draw pictures to send to hundreds of children detained at three centers, providing them with messages of support and solidarity.It’s not the first letter-writing campaign the group has organized, but it is the first to go to children who are detained. Previous years saw kids writing letters to elected officials as a way to engage the young about immigration policy. This year, with several hundred children living in jail-like centers, the letters are more important for their ability to cheer them up. Most of the children are actually refugees, their families fleeing from danger and terror in their home countries.“It’s very isolating for the families who are in detention,” Anna Duncan, the program director for We Belong Together, told Refinery29 by phone. “It’s very restricted in terms of them being able to receive toys or gifts or anything that would bring some joy to what is otherwise a really dreary and difficult existence inside the facilities. Having that connection to kids on the outside, knowing that there are kids outside who know about what’s happening and who are standing in solidarity with them, it’s such an important message of hope to be able to send.”