NPR
By Richard Gonzales
August 8, 2014
As
the Obama administration says the number of unaccompanied minors
crossing the Southwest border is declining, the White House is being
urged to stop fast-tracking their
deportation hearings. That call is coming from an unusual source: one
of the nation's top immigration judges.
"We
know of the political reality that is putting pressure on the
administration to hear these cases quickly," said Judge Dana Leigh
Marks, president of the National Association
of Immigration Judges. But, she said, fast-tracking increases the
likelihood of further clogging the court system, as the practice could
lead to appeals based on noncitizens' lack of understanding of the U.S.
process.
"The
court system itself is extremely well-served when noncitizens who
appear before us are represented by attorneys," Marks said.
Fast-tracking
also could lead to delays because the Department of Justice has placed
the minors' cases ahead of tens of thousands of pending immigration
cases.
Marks'
comments came on the heels of reports (here and here) that there is a
shortage of pro bono lawyers available to meet the crunching demand for
representation for
the minors. Typically, asylum claims can take up to a year to reach a
hearing. The Department of Justice has instructed immigration judges to
hold deportation hearings within 21 days after a minor is apprehended.
"There's
no one to represent these people," said Claire Fawcett, an attorney for
Centro Legal de La Raza in Oakland. "In immigration hearings, you have
the right to an
attorney, but you have to pay for your attorney, and most of the minors
are living with family here, but they are very low-income."
Fawcett
spoke outside San Francisco's immigration court. She was one of a small
group of lawyers who volunteered to come to the courthouse and perform
on-the-spot initial
assessments to see whether the minors have a valid asylum claim and a
basic understanding of their rights in the proceedings.
The
minors will ask for a continuance so that they can get an attorney for
their next court hearing, Fawcett said. She added, "So we're trying to
give them as much help
as possible upfront and then try to refer their cases to organizations
who can help them."
But across the country, lawyers with nonprofit groups that help immigrants with their legal problems are already overwhelmed.
"It's
not like we've been able to staff up in response to the recent crisis.
So there's no extra capacity among the nonprofit organizations," said
Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg,
an attorney with the Immigrant Advocacy Program of the Legal Aid
Justice Center in Falls Church, Va.
"We're
being asked to take a lot of extra cases and that's fine. But we can't
possibly be expected to do it on an expedited basis," he added.
Although
the minors have a right to an attorney, the government is not required
to provide them with legal counsel, so many go to immigration courts
with no representation.
According to government data collected by Syracuse University, over the
past 10 years, fewer than 50 percent of unaccompanied children had
lawyers. Without representation, 90 percent are ordered deported.
A
minor represented by an attorney stands a very good chance of remaining
in this country, according to the TRAC Immigration Project at Syracuse.
One reason is that immigration law is very complicated, and asylum cases require a lot of work to build a credible case.
The
White House appears to know what's at stake. This week, Vice President
Biden told an audience of constitutional scholars and immigration
activists that the Obama administration
is looking for ways to deal with the border crisis without any action
from Congress
"We
need lawyers; we need trained lawyers, to determine whether or not
these kids meet the criteria for refugee status," Biden said.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
No comments:
Post a Comment