This blog has previously covered Deferred Action Children Act (DACA). That executive order stands out in the immigration debate because it highlights the importance of figuring how to handle the status of minors who were brought to the United States by their parents and have lived as Americans virtually their entire lives. Deportation is a very different proposition for a child than an adult in many cases. For example, a child who has been living in Western Pennsylvania for her entire conscious life with no memories of her birth place is starkly different from a thirty year old man who came to this country of his own volition and who came of age and was educated in his home country. The role of children is front and center once again in the immigration debate, as President Obama has asked Congress in a letter for funding to address the “urgent humanitarian situation” of unaccompanied teens and children crossing the Southwestern border without parents. A class-action lawsuit was filed this week to address the concerns of minors without a legal defense. The suit specifically charges the immigration apparatus of the federal government of violating the US Constitution’s Due Process Clause and the Immigration and Nationality Act’s provisions requiring a full and fair hearing before an immigration judge.

Children who are set to be deported, often to some of the most dangerous locations in the Western Hemisphere, such as El Salvador and Honduras, should have the opportunity to defend themselves against deportation. Many of the young plaintiffs in the suit have fled gang violence and personal threats to their lives. This is a cruel state of affairs for individuals who badly need a defense, as their lives are inevitably going to be altered drastically. Lacking a legal defense, they are almost marked for deportation to a possibly unknown land. Many of those children were brought to the United States by their parents in the first place to escape violence and persecution.

An advocate for providing minors with a legal defense said that “the unique vulnerabilities require that children have a legal representative in their proceedings.” The dire situation is summed up: “Deportation carries serious consequences for children, whether it is return to a country they fled because of violence and persecution or being separated from their homes and families. Yet children are forced into immigration court without representation – a basic protection most would assume is required whenever someone’s liberty is at stake. Requiring children to fight against deportation without a lawyer is incompatible with American values of due process and justice for all,” said Beth Werlin, deputy legal director for the American Immigration Council.

It is the firm opinion of this law firm that minors facing deportation proceedings should have a right to legal defense. There are immigration problems unique to children. We advocate for the better protection and legal defenses of these children and hope that the federal government will treat this concern as the “urgent humanitarian situation” that President Obama called it. The child who has come to the United States to escape violence, persecution, or poverty deserves a legal defense. There are also additional concerns for the unaccompanied minors crossing the Southwestern border being pawns in larger human trafficking operations. Immigration is an important matter that requires comprehensive and sagacious solutions. However, this is an especially pressing aspect of immigration and one that deserves immediate remedies.