Above Photo: It is impossible to think that they will understand what is happening in the court. Photo: El Periódico
Huffington Post reported on another case involving a young child in court without his parents who had already been deported. In this case, it was a one-year old. The child “briefly played with a ball, drank from a bottle, then ‘cried hysterically’ as he was about to leave the courtroom Friday, according to The Associated Press.” Ap further reported, Judge John Richardson said he was “embarrassed to ask” if the child understood the proceedings. “I don’t know who you would explain it to, unless you think that a 1-year-old could learn immigration law,” he told the child’s attorney.
He was not the only child in court without parents, another boy held up five fingers when the judge asked him his age.
The injustice of child separation followed by very young children appearing in court is one symptom of a very sick and dysfunctional immigration system. KZ
Many Americans believe that the “zero tolerance” with immigration from the Trump administration is getting too far
As a result of the immigration policy of Donald Trump, immigrant minors are being summoned in the courts without lawyers, that is, they must defend themselves.
The newspaper USA Today explains the story of a child under three years of age who appeared before the judge and had to defend himself only to avoid deportation. He tried to enter with his father, but separated them for illegally crossing to EE. UU
A video of the NGO Unaccompanied Children, which works with immigrant communities since 1978, has gone viral in the last hours in social networks, for sharing a recreation of these trials to minors, reports the Catalan newspaper El Periódico.
“When children appear in immigration court alone, nine out of ten are deported. When they appear with a lawyer, the immigration courts have allowed almost half of the children to stay in the United States, “the video points out.
According to the filmmakers of the video, directed by Linda Freedman, it is a recreation of the typical procedures that take place every day in immigration courts throughout the United States.
The purpose of the video is to make the situation of these children visible and mobilize citizens: “I imagined the video enthusing lawyers, law students, translators and others who could help unaccompanied children,” Freedman added.
Law experts say that children have no ability to defend themselves, much less in a language they barely understand.
“It is impossible to think that they will understand what is happening in the court, the charges presented to them by the federal government or understand what the prosecutor says, and all this in English, a language that they do not dominate,” explained Jaime Barrón, immigration lawyer who practices in Dallas, Texas.
Although the US government is not obliged to provide an ex officio lawyer, most jurists consider that it must contemplate that a child can not speak for itself and that mechanisms should exist to guarantee legal representation.
Many Americans believe that the “zero tolerance” with immigration from the Trump administration is going too far. Now they put their hands on their heads when they learn that these minors are being summoned in immigration courts without lawyers. In other words, they must defend themselves.
