In Arizona, a 1-year-old baby appeared unrepresented in immigration court; the judge ordered the infant to file a completed asylum application by the next hearing date. In Texas, an unaccompanied child appeared without a lawyer in immigration court; that child gave up their right to seek any protection from deportation without ever having had the chance to speak with a lawyer. Despite my long career in the child welfare system, these recent reports of infants and children across the country going to court without legal representation have shocked me. In Ohio, I fear that there are similar cases because of the Trump administration’s failure to renew a legal-services contract serving roughly 20,000 unaccompanied children. As a result, many children are facing immigration proceedings with no attorney, or with attorneys who are inexperienced or working without pay.
