Kids go to court in NYC with no lawyer: 'The cruelty is apparent'
a year ago
- #children
- #legal-aid
- #immigration
- Migrant children in New York shelters appear in immigration court via Webex without parents or attorneys, only shelter workers.
- The Trump administration terminated a $200 million contract funding legal services for unaccompanied migrant children, leading to fewer attorneys available.
- Without legal representation, 96% of children in immigration court are ordered deported, compared to 23% with representation.
- Unaccompanied children numbers peaked at nearly 129,904 in 2022, with most coming from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, or Mexico.
- Nonprofits are scrambling to replace lost federal funding, leading to layoffs and halted services for migrant children.
- Judges like Ubaid ul-Haq adapt proceedings to be child-friendly, but many young children struggle to understand the legal process.