La Charla: documenting the experience of unaccompanied minors in immigration court

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is no minimum age for children to appear unaccompanied in immigration court in the United States; infants and toddlers, like adults, can receive notices to appear and are not given legal counsel. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in three US immigration courts, I examine how unaccompanied immigrant minors experience the legal removal process and represent themselves in court. I find that the US court system is ill equipped to deal with the unique needs of immigrant minors: fear and confusion infiltrate the process. The qualitative conditions of the courtroom prevent children from receiving fair legal counsel, thus denying them due process. Ethnographic data indicate that creating a more child-friendly immigration court includes providing access to legal help desks in municipal buildings; ensuring fair and accurate translation of removal proceedings; increasing the transparency of legal relief options and roles of stakeholders in the courtroom to families and minors; and streamlining national policies or the training on best practices for unaccompanied minors provided to judges who decide in removal proceedings.