A 1-year-old baby appeared in immigration court without legal representation this week in Arizona and received an instruction: File an asylum application before the next hearing or face deportation.
An attorney from the U.S. Committee for Refugees, one of the groups with a new contract to represent migrant children, was silent as it happened, according to filings Thursday in the legal dispute between a network of nonprofits and the Trump administration.
“The USCRI attorney did not speak up—let alone suggest that it is facially absurd to ask an unrepresented baby to do anything—despite knowing the baby would be ordered deported if unable to file the complicated application by the next hearing,” one filing says.
The baby is one of the unaccompanied migrant children who have had to represent themselves in immigration court since July 31, when a contract between the federal government and a network of nonprofits that provided legal services ended, the groups say in the court filings.
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The end of the contract with the Acacia Center for Justice, which distributed the government funds to nearly 100 legal providers representing more than 24,000 kids, has led to confusion, the groups say. Minors are showing up unrepresented, despite two new contracts the Department of Health and Human Services awarded to the USCRI for $20 million and Our Rescue, an anti-human-trafficking organization, for $158 million.
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In court declarations, attorneys and leaders of the nonprofits that previously were contracted to represent children say they’ve witnessed USCRI attorneys remain mum during immigrant children’s court proceedings.
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In another instance on Aug. 6, an unaccompanied minor without legal representation in a California court requested to voluntarily leave the country while the USCRI attorney present didn’t say anything, according to a declaration from Cristel Stefany Martinez, managing director of California immigration law firm MNM Law Offices.
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