These little kids throw up their arms and say in the best way they can: I am here. do something to help me. That is how desperate they feeldesperate to feel safe. to feel some protection. They are refugees in every sense of the word. In January the State Department announced that it would start a refugee program in El Salvador. Honduras. and Guatemala after "concluding that the epidemic of violence by international criminal gangs in the three countries had reached crisis proportions and required a broader. regional response." I applaud Secretary Kerry and his team for making this humane and principled decision. It is a good first step. and it will help people apply for refugee status at home so they dont have to make a trip through Mexico and other extremely dangerous places. But for those who have already reached our border seeking asylum. we must ensure that they are treated fairly. with respect. These refugees should have help in making their asylum request. That means they should have some legal representation. Under current U.S. law. there is no right to appointed counsel in noncriminal immigration removal proceedings. even if the person in question is a baby. a child. Think about that. These children who dont speak English and are in a new country are unreasonably expected to represent themselves in a tribunal. Approximately 70 percent of women and children and 50 percent of unaccompanied children who enter the United States dont have a lawyer when standing before a judge in deportation proceedings. It sounds hard to be true. but it is. There is an organization called Kids in Need of Defense. or KIND.
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immigration seeking asylum refugee asylum request deportation refugees