The federal government ordered immigration lawyers to stop representing children who cross the border into the United States by themselves. NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes explains the legal fight going on inside a California courtroom.
Layoffs have begun across the county for those who provide legal services to unaccompanied minors who crossed the border in the United States.
The cuts come after a federal notice ordered nonprofits and other groups to stop helping children facing immigration hearings alone. More than 100 legal nonprofits received a letter on March 21 telling them to “immediately stop all work” for the government's convenience.
The Immigrant Defenders Law Center has already cut dozens of its staff members since that notice went out. Its clients — children as young as 5 months — are already having to face a judge alone.
“A lot is at stake here,” immigration attorney Carson Scott said.
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Scott says she’s already seeing the detrimental effects of children being forced to stand on their own.
“It’s essentially asking children to represent themselves, to fill out immigration forms, to present evidence to the judge, to advocate for themselves in a system that is really difficult,” she said. “Our immigration laws are complicated.”
Her team is suing the federal government for breaking the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which gives unaccompanied children legal aid. A federal judge on Tuesday heard oral arguments to consider granting a temporary restraining order that would immediately restore that aid.
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Nonprofit legal professionals used to meet with children when they got to the U.S. to give “Know Your Rights” presentations and legal screenings. They’d also use puppets and cartoons to help kids understand what was going on in court.
Mickey Donovan-Kaloust, another immigration attorney for the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, explains the dire situations that lead kids and babies to the U.S. to begin with.
“These children are often fleeing desperate circumstances: violence, abuse, neglect, trafficking and forced labor. We serve youth who have been persecuted for their LGBT identity, for their gender, and for their status as children," Donovan-Kaloust said.
Lawyers say these children will continue having to fend for themselves in court, until a federal judge steps in.
That judge differed on making a ruling while she waits for more evidence from both sides but could decide as soon as next week.
