Dear Friend,
Earlier this month, our staff in Harlingen accompanied a very young child who has been diagnosed with a developmental delay to her video hearing in Corpus Christi. Due to technical difficulties, she had to wait three hours to appear before a judge on a television screen. She was noticeably restless and wanted to play with the other children. When it was her turn to stand in front of the TV screen, she so nervous that she answered “no” when the judge asked her if she could state her name.
Immigration court, which is an adversarial setting with a judge and a government attorney arguing against the child’s case, has always been a confusing and scary experience for children. But in the public health crisis that is COVID-19, it is even more terrifying. Despite the imminent threat of infection and harm, the Department of Justice continues to hold court hearings for children in custody. Some courts have switched to video hearings like the one we witnessed in Corpus Christi and others are waiving children’s appearance in court. Both these alternatives deny children fairness and due process and endanger the lives of advocates, attorneys, judges, courthouse staff, and everyone who lives in our communities.
We have been in touch with a number of Hill offices, press contacts, and senior government officials to put pressure on DOJ to do the right thing, but despite our relentless advocacy, the DOJ has refused to halt hearings and continues to endanger lives. Please join us in demanding an immediate halt to all immigration courts by retweeting us on Twitter and writing your own tweets at the @DOJ_EOIR. Here is an article on the Gothamist and one from VOX that shed light on the issue.
On other fronts, while Child Advocates and staff are no longer making in-person visits with children in custody, we're working with facility staff to schedule video and telephone calls so that we can continue to be a consistent presence in the lives of the children we’re appointed to. We continue to advocate for children, reunifying them with family as quickly as possible, whenever possible.
We are deeply concerned about children who were supposed to be repatriated. Central American countries have shut their borders or limited transfers. That means reunification with a parent or relative will have to be delayed indefinitely, even for babies and toddlers in custody. We are pursuing updated information about kids aging out; our best guess is that children who turn 18 in custody are still being transferred to ICE detention even though conditions in adult detention are patently unsafe. We're joining letters and strategy sessions with other groups to prevent additional transfers to ICE and advocating to get young and vulnerable people who are already in ICE custody released.
We’ll continue to keep you updated about our work and how COVID-19 is impacting children in custody in the coming days and weeks. Our work is ongoing and we are deeply thankful for your support.
Thank you,
Jennifer Nagda
Policy Director
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