Leticia's story is one that occurs every day and frequently to young immigrants in New York. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) picks up about 8,000 unaccompanied, undocumented minors each year, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and 85 percent of them come from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. These immigrant youths then face deportation proceedings—and over half must do so without a lawyer.
Section 292 of immigration law, gives immigrants the right to representation—but not to free, government-appointed lawyers. And because undocumented youth usually have no money, they must rely on pro-bono lawyers to step in for defense.
Growing concern about lack of counsel
In May, Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals drew New Yorkers' attention to the lack of counsel in immigration court when he released the New York Immigration Representation Study, the culmination of research by the Katzmann Immigration Representation Group and the Vera Institute of Justice.
The report found that about 60 percent of all immigrants in New York court lack counsel. And counsel makes all the difference: Immigrants who haven't been detained have a 74 percent success rate in court if they have legal counsel, while those without lawyers have only a 13 percent success rate.
Mayor Bloomberg pledged $2 million for the Immigration Fellows Program, an initiative paying more experienced attorneys to teach young lawyers immigration law. However, the program hasn't yet begun due to budget difficulties, said Fatima Shama, Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs. The government, working with Katzmann and other players, hopes to announce a new resource for immigration representation by the end of the year, Shama said.
Meanwhile, New York's Department of Youth and Community Development funds legal assistance for immigrant minors each year through organizations like the Legal Aid Society and the Door , a non-profit youth services provider. But with the increase in the detention of unaccompanied minors, there aren't enough attorneys for everyone.
Without a lawyer, even if immigrants speak no English, they must represent themselves in court. And even if they do speak English, they are completely unfamiliar with complex immigration law. For minors who may not understand their defense for staying in the country, the process is even more labyrinthine.
She's spared detention
Leticia already felt perplexed by her situation when she went to the Department of Homeland Security station in St. Charles, Louisiana. Kept outside the office because she was a minor, she peeked into the building. Inside, fellow immigrants were yelling and some stood with shackles on their feet.
Evening came and the adults inside were carted to a detention center, while Leticia was placed in a holding room in the office.
"It had bars on the outside, and I slept on the floor. A woman watched me. She stayed awake all night," said Leticia. "They said someone had to get me by 11 a.m., or I'd be taken to detention, too." Leticia's aunt, with whom she'd been staying, flew down immediately and brought her back to upstate New York. Though Leticia did have family in the United States, she had no legal guardian, and so was seen as an unaccompanied youth by the law.
