Los Angeles Times
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske
August 3, 2014
Since
November, Oscar has been living with his grandmother in Fort Worth,
attending public high school and dreaming of becoming a police officer.
He
is one of thousands of young migrants from Central America who crossed
the border illegally and hope to win permission to stay in the United
States. He was told to
report to immigration court on July 24.
As
his court date approached, Oscar grew increasingly nervous. He does not
speak English. He could not afford to hire a lawyer and was unaware of
free legal services.
Oscar,
18, had seen news reports about immigrants who went to court being
issued electronic ankle monitors, about women and children deported by
plane.
What, he wondered, should he do?
The
question underscores the dilemma faced by thousands of immigrants who
have come to the U.S. in recent months, particularly those without
lawyers. To stay in the country
legally, they must first face federal authorities and risk being
deported.
When
youths fail to appear, judges can order them deported. Since 2009, the
number of such orders has more than doubled to 2,826 so far this fiscal
year, according to
court records. But the growth has been proportional to the caseload,
leaving the no-show rate relatively unchanged at about 30%.
They
fail to appear for a variety of reasons, advocates say: Some move;
others are confused, struggle to find attorneys or hide out of fear.
"I'm
afraid they will deport me," said Oscar, trembling in his red soccer
jersey on the living room couch at his grandmother's house. "If I go
back, they will kill me
for sure."
By
"they," he meant gangs battling in his hometown in El Salvador: MS-13
and 18th Street. One dominated his neighborhood; the other his school.
"If I joined one, the other would kill me," he said.
The
longer Oscar resisted, he said, the greater the chance the gangs would
attack him, his parents and two siblings. A 20-year-old cousin had
resisted, and last year one
of the gangs shot and killed him.
So
last October, Oscar paid $3,000 to travel north by bus. He was caught
and released to his grandmother after crossing the Rio Grande on an
inflatable raft.
Federal
immigration officials and courts have been overwhelmed in recent months
with the influx of more than 57,000 unaccompanied youth who crossed the
border this fiscal
year, as well as others who crossed with parents, all mostly from
Central America.
By
law, Central American youths are entitled to court hearings before they
can be deported, but not to lawyers. About half of those who arrive
unaccompanied, like Oscar,
don't have attorneys, according to court records analyzed by the
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
Of
the unaccompanied children who find attorneys, 47% have been allowed to
stay legally, compared with 10% of those without attorneys, according
to the study.
On
Friday, advocacy groups in Seattle filed for an injunction to prevent
children from being deported if they don't have attorneys. The groups
recently filed a class-action
lawsuit alleging the youths have been denied legal representation and
due process.
The
Obama administration has promised swifter court hearings, sending more
judges to the border and enlisting 100 lawyers and paralegals to
represent the youth in 29 cities.
Lawmakers,
such as Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), had proposed
speeding youths' hearings and deportations, warning that otherwise they
may be released to
parents or sponsors and evade authorities.
"Most
children being issued notices to appear and released to a sponsor will
not show up for their hearings, instead disappearing into the landscape
as an undocumented
immigrant," said Jessica Sandlin, a Cornyn spokeswoman.
Last
week, the Los Angeles immigration court fast-tracked unaccompanied
youths' initial hearings to within 21 days of when their cases were
filed by U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement. Courts in Miami and elsewhere are expected to
adopt similar "rocket dockets."
Children's
attorneys said they had too little time to prepare and to arrange
travel — for instance, for children summoned Monday to Los Angeles from
Louisiana, New York
and Virginia.
Judge
Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Assn. of Immigration
Judges, was in Washington last week with a message for members of
Congress: Provide immigrants legal
help, and don't fast-track hearings, particularly for children.
"It's
counterintuitive when you tell a judge, 'Let's speed these cases up,'"
Marks said. "These cases need to go more slowly because of the
vulnerability — the need to
be more solicitous of juveniles, and make sure they find counsel so
their stories can be told."
In
Dallas and other cities, legal experts from local nonprofits provide
"know your rights" presentations to children awaiting court. Lawyers
from the San Antonio nonprofit
RAICES meet children held in a massive shelter on Lackland Air Force
Base.
Lawyers
say one of the best routes for children to stay in the U.S. is to
pursue Special Immigrant Juvenile, or SIJ, status, which is granted to
those who suffered abuse,
neglect or abandonment. Once granted SIJ status, children are eligible
to apply for a green card. But the process is complicated, even with the
aid of an immigration attorney.
The
number of SIJ applicants has more than doubled since 2010, and so have
approvals. But they are still rare. Last fiscal year, judges approved
3,434 for all nationalities.
"The procedural hurdles are very high," Dallas lawyer Paul Zoltan said.
Children
who make the trip alone may have a better chance of staying than those
who came with parents, advocates say. They often join relatives who have
lived in the U.S.
and can better navigate the legal system.
Such
was the case with Bryan, 16, who fled El Salvador last November to join
his mother, Mirna, in Texas. They asked that their last name not be
used for fear they might
be targeted by the transnational gang that dominated his school.
Mirna,
36, a factory worker, came to the U.S. illegally in 1998, walking
through the Arizona desert, and has had temporary legal status since
2001. Zoltan thinks her son
has a strong case for SIJ status because his father abandoned them when
Bryan was 3 months old.
The
family could have avoided immigration authorities. Instead, they opted
to hire Zoltan and pursue legal status. "I'm nervous, but I also have
faith that nothing bad
will happen," Mirna said.
Oscar
never found an attorney. He had to decide on his own whether to go to
court. On July 24, his case was one of 21 on the juvenile docket in
Dallas. All but one of
the youths were from Central America.
A
Guatemalan teenager who managed to hire an attorney was granted SIJ
status. Most of the rest did not have attorneys, and their cases were
continued as their families
searched for legal help. Immigration courts provide youths and
guardians with lists of free legal services — when they show up for
their first hearing.
Then it was Oscar's turn. The clerk called his name.
Silence.
"Is he here?" she asked in Spanish.
Again, nothing.
Judge
Michael Baird detailed Oscar's case and said the court had mailed a
notice of the hearing to two addresses on file. Neither was returned. He
directed the clerk to
check the lobby.
Oscar wasn't there. He was still at home, too scared to come to court.
"He's now two and a half hours late," the judge announced. "I am entering an order to remove him to El Salvador."
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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