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Trump announced an executive order last week to end family separation at the border, and immigration officials announced Friday that 500 parents and children have been reunited. But the government doesn’t plan to bring the remaining families together until a parent has finished their deportation hearings ― a process that can take several months ― and advocates say there is still no clear reunification system in place. As a result, children who aren’t even old enough to know the name of their home country will be forced to navigate a complex legal system by themselves.
Last year, only 33 percent of unaccompanied minor children ― the category that these separated kids fall under ― had lawyers to help them through the process, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. Since migrants are not entitled to public defenders at their hearings, they rely on limited pro bono legal services.
There’s no minimum age for appearing in immigration court.
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