immigration lawyer

CNN reports from a Texas immigration court where unaccompanied migrant children navigate deportation proceedings, many without lawyers or family support. One child's words, 'I have no one', capture the isolation faced by minors asked to argue their own cases. The report highlights the stakes of immigration court for children facing removal.

Migrant children are appearing in US immigration court proceedings without legal representation, according to CNN Politics reporting. The issue has drawn attention because children navigating complex deportation hearings on their own face steep odds, and the shortage of lawyers taking on minors' cases raises questions about due process and how the court system handles young defendants.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association has released a policy brief arguing that immigration courts operated under ICE control undermine due process protections for migrants. The brief contends that holding removal proceedings in concealed or non-public settings limits access to counsel, public scrutiny, and fair hearings. Immigration advocates are likely to use the findings to press for greater transparency and judicial independence in the US immigration court system.

Immigration lawyers and advocates say ICE has stopped disclosing where it is holding people who already have final deportation orders. According to accounts circulating among immigration law practitioners this week, detainees with removal orders are being held incommunicado, with attorneys unable to find out which facility their clients are in. Critics are calling the practice effectively disappearing people and are raising alarm about due process and access to legal counsel.