WATCH “UNACCOMPANIED: Alone in America”
READ this article in the Texas Tribune by Christina Jewett and Shefali Luthra, published JUNE 27, 2018.
Immigrant toddlers ordered to appear in court alone:
“As the White House faces court orders to reunite families separated at the border, immigrant children as young as 3 years old are being ordered into court for their own deportation proceedings, according to attorneys in Texas, California and Washington, D.C.”
“This is not traffic court. A mistake on an asylum case can result in jail, torture or a death sentence.” –Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges
“[Expecting children to advocate for themselves in court is an] incredibly misaligned expectation . . . . That couldn’t be any less developmentally appropriate.” –Steve Lee, a UCLA child psychology professor
Some children may not be mature enough to verbalise a response. Some children may not know the details of the dangers their parents were seeking to protect them from. Stripping children of their loved ones and expecting them to navigate a foreign, adult world, to advocate for themselves in court alone, is a gross miscarriage of justice and lacks even the thinnest veneer of human decency.
Thank you for bearing witness. Small actions add up, and you can help in many ways, but if you are looking for a starting place, the makers of the short documentary above have sign-posted a path for your involvement here.
Grace Hughes 
Grace- Thank you for your post. I’m working with the team that’s helping to get the short film out, and I really appreciate your piece – curating the comments, stat’s and odds that these children face along with the quotes that help paint a more vivid picture of what these children face. Thank you again!
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