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KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
Mon Mar 21, 2016, 04:11 PM Mar 2016

The injustice of deporting children without representation

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-villagra-migrant-children-immigration-court-20160317-story.html

A Department of Justice immigration judge recently made headlines for testifying that 3- and 4-year-old migrant children could be taught immigration law and could competently represent themselves in court....

Weil's bosses promptly disavowed his comments, and he claimed his words had been taken out of context. But don't be fooled. Weil is an assistant chief immigration judge responsible for training other judges on cases involving children. He is not just knowledgeable about how young people are treated in immigration court, he facilitates the process. His deposition unmasks the government's deplorable position: Deportation hearings in which children must defend themselves are not right, but they will continue.

As it stands, a patchwork of federal and state programs fund counsel for some migrant children through grants to nonprofit legal organizations. Others get pro bono assistance from private attorneys or the children's relatives pay for representation. But many children simply aren't represented at all, even in cases where they may be deported to countries where they could face violence and even death.

The results are what you would expect. Children without lawyers were five times more likely to be ordered deported in the nearly 53,000 cases completed between October 2012 and August 2015.


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