Separated migrant children, some dressed in pink bows and ties and at least one as young as one year old, continue to appear in immigration court without their parents, torn from their arms due to the Trump administration’s barbaric “zero tolerance” policy. “Such children don't have a right to a court-appointed attorney,” the Associated Press reported, “and 90 percent of kids without a lawyer are returned to their home countries, according to Kids in Need of Defense, a group that provides legal representation.”
Under Judge Dana Sabraw’s order, all separated children under five must be reunited with their families by Tuesday, July 10, but hours before that deadline, the administration has indicated it will likely fail to reunite half by then. In proof of the administration’s ongoing incompetence when it comes to this self-created humanitarian crisis, one Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorney appearing in Judge John Richardson’s Phoenix courtroom didn’t even appear to know about the deadline:
Richardson repeatedly told the Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney who was acting as the prosecutor that he should make note of the cases involving young children because of the government's obligation to meet the reunification deadline. The attorney said he wasn't familiar with that deadline and that a different department within ICE handled such matters.
According the AP, “ICE spokeswoman Jennifer Elzea said the attorney was familiar with the injunction but didn't know the specifics of the timeline requirements off the top of his head ‘and did not want to misspeak about any timeline commitments without that knowledge.’” Since when has ICE expressed such caution and regard for accuracy?
One child who won’t get reunited with his parent here is the boy in the tie, who, when “asked by the judge how old he was … simply put five fingers up.” The boy’s attorney said that the father had already been deported to Honduras. The one-year-old boy “drank milk from a bottle, played with a small purple ball that lit up when it hit the ground and occasionally asked for ‘agua.’” Judge Richardson “could hardly contain his unease with the situation during the portion of the hearing where he asks immigrant defendants whether they understand the proceedings.”
“I'm embarrassed to ask it,” he said according to the AP, “because I don't know who you would explain it to, unless you think that a 1 year old could learn immigration law.”
Can you give $5 to help keep families together and make sure that no child has to appear in court without an attorney?