Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Young Immigrants Must Risk Deportation for Chance to Gain Legal Status
















Summary - Since October of 2013 roughly 57,000 unaccompanied minors have crossed into the United States.  Many of these immigrants are detained and given court dates to see if they can qualify for a special status in order to stay in the country. Current U.S. law promises a court date before being deported, but does not guarantee legal representation.  There are many free services and immigrants with family members already in the U.S. usually have means to help secure representation.  However, 30% of these youths do not show up for their court dates and are often then given deportation orders.  In fact, 47% of youths with legal representation have been allowed to stay, while only 10% of those without representation end up receiving permission to stay.  A group advocating for immigrants' rights filed an injunction (legal attempt to stop a practice) against deporting youth without legal representation.  The current push from the federal government is to speed up these trials, with the assumed goal being to speed up deportations.

Question - How is the legal status for undocumented immigrants different from the legal status of citizens and what is the effect (see Oscar's story in article)?
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10 comments:

  1. UnknownAugust 29, 2014 at 9:17 AM

    I feel it is unfair for Mexican and Canadian immigrants to not be granted a court date after being caught. The Democrats want to enable more people to gain citizenship and the Republicans want to speed up the deportation process for immigrants.

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  2. AnonymousAugust 29, 2014 at 9:51 AM

    The legal status of illegal immigrants is very different from citizens of the US. Citizens can use there right to a lawyer if they cannot afford one. Immigrants dont have the luxury of that right which means most immigrants, even the youth, have to represent themselves. However there are free services in the US to help obtain a lawyer but only work when you have a family member who was already legal.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 3, 2014 at 9:27 AM

    the law says that if you are a child not from mexico or Canada you can cross the border and get a at court date assigned you can get a special permission to stay. how ever 30% of the people do not show up. if you do have a lawyer to represent you, you have a 10% chance of staying while if you do have some to represent you, you have a 47% to stay. if you are a citizen you have the right to a attorney if you can not afford one. Since some of these children don't have the money for an attorney its harder for them and you they don't get one for free since they are not legal.

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  4. mmcdermottSeptember 3, 2014 at 9:28 AM

    Interesting update: the city of San Francisco just announced plans to fund $100,000 to cover legal costs of immigrants at risk of deportation. California and New York established similar funds. Here is a link...

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/27/san-francisco-to-fund-immigration-attorneys/

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  5. AnonymousSeptember 3, 2014 at 9:38 AM

    A person who is undocumented has a lot less rights in the US versus a US Citizen. It's pretty unfair how the government would use bracelets on immigrants to track their every move. And it looks like immigrants are treated worse than criminals because immigrants can be denied attorneys.

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  6. noah luceroSeptember 3, 2014 at 9:41 AM

    Being a US citizen you are given a lot of more rights then being an immigrant. Every citizen has the right to a lawyer in court. Being an immigrant you don't have that right. I believe this is unfair because when you go to court without a lawyer the chances of you receiving refugee staus significantly drops.

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  7. UnknownSeptember 3, 2014 at 9:51 AM

    1) 47% of youth with legal representation have been allowed to stay while only 10% of those without representation end up receiving permission to stay.
    2) More then 57,000 unaccompanied have crossed the border in 1 year.
    3) Senate minority Whip John Cornyn had proposed speeding youth hearings and deportations.

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  8. AnonymousSeptember 3, 2014 at 9:56 AM

    The U.S. law promises a court date before being deported, but usally not guarantee legal representation. Some dont even show up for their court date and recieve a deportation order. Some immigrants are alowed to stay, they quckly speed up the trails so they can deport them faster.

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  9. UnknownSeptember 3, 2014 at 10:00 AM

    Immigrant children feel as if even showing up to their court date is basically a waste of time. The reason for this assumption is because children that do show up, are often sent back home with deportation orders. Although 10% of kids that do not show up are granted to stay.

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  10. UnknownSeptember 3, 2014 at 10:05 AM

    i believe that the police should at least notify the kid that they have some free service so they can have a chance to stay as a refugee. people just believe that now that there in the U.S the just run away and not show up to the court date put people don't understand the fear people face coming to a new unknown land from there home of gangs and violence

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