With babies as young as 18 months still being taken from their parents at our border — separated and kept in cages. Indeed, six children had already died while in U.S. custody but no one was talking about it, so we felt we had to.

Stepping into a crisis locked in a partisan chokehold with no relief in sight, we knew we needed a partner on the front lines. That’s why we joined with RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, who said awareness of the problem needed to be the ultimate goal. We partnered to urge people globally to pressure U.S., representatives to pass the Keep Families Together Act (H.R. 541).

Together we debated for weeks as to the scope of what we should address. We zeroed in on the children. We needed a campaign to stop people from becoming inured to the horror and inhumanity of the border crisis and rouse them to take action.

But how to bring this crucial message to anyone experiencing our campaign? Our ideas ranged from Out of Home advertising to experiential to film to online disruption. The execution we arrived at incorporated all of them.

Our final question was answered by our guerilla artist consultant. As we debated the intricacies of executing in NYC, he said, “Permits make noise, but illegal gets press.” That’s when we decided #NoKidsInCages would launch as an act of civil disobedience centered on 24 protest pieces: Two dozen cages outfitted with mannequins of children crying out for their families, crying that came from real audio smuggled from the camps.

On June 19, 2019, we staged 24 cages around New York City. The takeover dropped life-size cages, with models of children sleeping in them, throughout the city. Locations included the fronts of the NY Times and Fox News buildings, city landmarks, and highly trafficked areas in multiple boroughs to maximize attention.

The installations provided a multi-sensory experience, featuring sound from secret recordings smuggled out of the detention centers. When residents woke up the next day, they were outraged by what the cages represented, shared it online and donated to the cause. Following the June 19 launch, the #NoKidsInCages campaign also released a “digital installation” — a video that captures the cages — on Independence Day.

The #NoKidsinCages campaign was multifaceted: It included a physical and digital presence, multiple teams, a strong social and earned media effort, and eye-catching creative and visual assets including videos, graphics, and audio.

Prior to our activation, news reports on border separations were almost nonexistent. After, more than 100 media outlets chased the cages around the city, documenting the protest even as they were cut down by the NYPD,  investigations skyrocketed. The famous New Yorker piece “Inside a Texas Building” detailing the camp treatments came out 10 days later, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y>.) and other politicians visited the camps soon after, and July 4 protests followed nationwide. By the July Democratic debates, “kids in cages” was the operative term Democratic presidential candidates used to refer to children trapped in the camps.

The activation’s social media reach hit 90 million, with 11 million impressions. But even more importantly, the Senate passed a $4.6 billion emergency fund to alleviate the suffering at the border, while RAICES raised $9 Million to help free and reunite thousands of children with their parents.