Government policy states that minors must appear in immigration court for their scheduled removal hearings.
If the asylum case is denied, the minor ends up back in immigration court for an asylum hearing before an immigration judge. However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has stripped immigration judges of the authority to administratively close cases, and gutted well-established asylum case law.
So that makes any hope for asylum relief for these children nearly impossible.
In the next few weeks, the government will present parents separated from their children with the ultimate Sophie’s choice: be deported with their children to face the violence that they fled, or leave the children in the custody of the U.S. government.
As a former ICE attorney, I am laying down the prosecution sword and picking up the shield to defend those most vulnerable in our society. Our integrity as a democracy relies upon it.
Laura Peña is a former assistant chief counsel at ICE and served as a senior adviser in the State Department during the Obama administration. A Harlingen, Texas native, she starts next month as a visiting attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project.
Source: USA today
