Facing an Unprecedented Threat to Due Process, Kids in Need of Defense is Working to Ensure Every Child Has an Attorney in Immigration Court
Written by Brad Smith
Last summer, the number of unaccompanied children coming to the US rose to an unprecedented level. With 68,000 children making this treacherous journey all alone—many from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador—we faced a humanitarian crisis on our doorstep. Now, as we move into 2015, we are facing a due process crisis in our courts.
It was six years ago when Microsoft came together with Angelina Jolie to found Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), based on the principle that every child should have access to an attorney as they navigate the US legal system. In 2009, KIND’s first year of operation, 8,000 children came to the US alone seeking protection. While the number of children coming to the US has increased dramatically in recent years, the reasons they come remain constant. The level of violence in Central America continues to grow as criminal gangs and narco-traffickers take over small rural towns and prey upon vulnerable children.
Take Nina*. She was only 14 years old when she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and threatened by gang members in Honduras. She was forced to watch as they brutally murdered people in front of her and threatened her and her family with the same fate if she disobeyed them. With no one in Honduras to protect her from persistent threats, Nina saw no other option but to flee the only home she ever knew.
This is the fate of countless children in Central America today. Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras—the latter of which claims the dubious distinction as “the murder capital of the world”—are seeing a record number of children face the same decision Nina did: flee or die. When children arrive alone from these countries, they are taken into custody by US Customs and Border Patrol, transferred to the Office of Refugee and Resettlement in the US Department of Health and Human Services, and finally released to family while they wait for their cases to be decided. Ninety percent of these children have family in the US to take care of them while they await their immigration court decision.
Unfortunately, Nina’s story isn’t unique. With every new case KIND receives, there is another horrific tale of a child facing danger in his or her home country. If a judge had the opportunity to hear each story, the majority of these children would be given protection in the US, but a lack of trained and available lawyers means children as young as two years old are facing judges alone. Since they are not appointed an attorney to represent them in court, nearly 70 percent of them will show up for their immigration hearing without a lawyer[1]. The immigration court process is daunting for a child who doesn’t know English and is up against a US attorney arguing for his or her removal. Without counsel, kids with real claims for protection are sent back to their home countries, where their lives may be in danger.
Lack of representation is not the only hurdle these children face once in the US. Children’s cases are now being expedited and placed at the top of the court dockets, meaning even less time to find volunteer lawyers to help them prepare and present their cases. The Executive Office of Immigration Review recently reported that 94 percent of removal orders issued between July 18 and October 21, 2014, were given to children with no counsel. These numbers demonstrate the severity of this issue. Children are given deportation orders that force them to return to violent conditions, all without proper due process.
The vast majority of these children qualify for protections under existing US law that enable them to stay in the US legally, including Asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, and T visas (for trafficking victims). The help of an attorney can ensure that children have the chance to tell their stories.
This is where KIND comes in. KIND has partnered with more than 235 top law firms, corporations, and law schools, and trained more than 8,500 attorneys to build a network of pro bono lawyers who are willing and able to represent these children and change their lives. With eight field offices throughout the US, KIND provides hands-on mentoring and invaluable trial experience to volunteer lawyers. Although these attorneys practice varying types of law, they all dedicate their pro bono hours to representing some of the world’s most vulnerable children.
With help from KIND, Nina was placed with a pro bono attorney who represented her throughout her case. Nina was successfully granted asylum last year and can now safely live and go to school in the US without fearing for her life.
We are a great nation with a rich history of helping children who arrive at our borders alone. From 1934 to 1945, Americans rescued unaccompanied Jewish children fleeing the Holocaust and placed them with foster families and relatives. During the early 1960s, the US accepted Cuban children seeking refuge and reunited them with relatives and friends. The current crisis is no different—innocent children are fleeing violence and coming to the US simply to be safe. That’s why when children like Nina turn to us for help, we will continue to be there for them.
