“Without legal representation, unaccompanied immigrant children, no matter their age, will be forced to represent themselves against a trained government prosecutor. That child could be two years old… What you see when you walk into a courtroom is a child sitting alone in front of an immigration judge and navigating their immigration case without representation — alone.” (Instagram – Acacia Center for Justice)
There must be some mistake. The the brief Instagram video, quoted above, must have been generated by AI.
It wasn’t. Articles from reputable sources, like WBUR, confirmed that “Children often face deportation hearings alone — with little public scrutiny.” My internet search revealed a paucity of coverage of a practice that did not originate with Donald Trump. In 2014, in response to a surge of unaccompanied children crossing the southern border of the U.S. to escape violence, child trafficking and poverty, President Obama took “strong steps to…increase capacity for enforcement and removal proceedings, and quickly return unlawful migrants to their home countries.” Those who were detained had and continue to have no legal right to a court-appointed attorney, despite the fact that legal representation has been demonstrated to be the single most important factor determining the outcome of these cases.
Imagine the trauma of leaving home and family to be smuggled across the U.S. border. Imagine arriving with no money, unable to speak English, not knowing how to obtain basic necessities, like food and water, or a bed to sleep in. Imagine being arrested by border police. You know nothing about the U.S. immigration system, yet you find yourself in a courtroom alone before a government judge, who will decide whether you will remain or be deported back to the place you fled. This continues to be the ongoing plight of thousands of children under 18, classified as unaccompanied minors.
Another unbelievable story from PBS: “More toddlers appear alone in court for deportation under family separation.”
Trump’s sadistic separation policy during his first term in office resulted in immigrant children, “as young as 3,” already coping with the horror of being stolen from their parents, ordered into court for deportation proceedings. The frightening tale continues. According to the International Rescue Committee, between 2021 and 2024, an average of 117,000 minors were annually referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Immigrant children whose parents have been detained and/or deported are also in danger of being deported if they can’t convince a judge to let them remain in the U.S. Our criminal justice system is supposed to treat children as a protected class, who should be treated differently than adults. Juvenile courts, mental health providers, protective services, and other juvenile-focused institutions are staffed with specially trained professionals who use age-appropriate, methods to communicate with children.
Immigration courts don’t differentiate between children and adults. According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), children are expected to “recount the horrors they’ve faced in court while an ICE prosecutor argues for their deportation.” Children who have access to legal services staff from organizations like the IRC are more likely to be represented by a professional who uses trauma-informed methods to help them understand the court process. In one case, IRC staff enabled a 6-year-old to speak to a stuffed animal about the abuse and persecution he endured. That child won his case, yet only 58% of immigrant children are represented by legal services.
While Trump was prevented by the courts from his efforts to terminate federally supported legal services for unaccompanied minors, these services remain in jeopardy. Funding, approved for only three month increments, is due to expire on April 30, 2026, potentially leaving thousands of children to represent themselves alone. The Trump administration is moving towards privatizing legal services for unaccompanied children. What that might mean for these vulnerable children is chilling.
What is wrong with a country that expects immigrant children, some who have just learned to walk, to navigate immigration court? Congress introduced a bipartisan bill on Nov. 1, 2023 entitled, The Immigration Court Efficiency and Children’s Court Act (S. 3178/H.R. 6145) to establish a specialized “Children’s Court” for unaccompanied minors within the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Almost 3½ years later, the bill continues to languish in the House Judiciary Committee, with only seven co-sponsors.
In 2023, former President Joe Biden created a “children’s docket,” to provide specialized services to unaccompanied children, including child advocates, and pro-bono representation. Judges were asked not to wear robes in an effort to help children feel more comfortable. Unsurprisingly, Trump 2.0 dismantled the docket.
While the southern border of the U.S. remains quiet, the aggressive tactics of ICE are resulting in removal orders for more and more children. According to federal immigration court data, more than 900,000 children faced deportation in 2025, often alone. Despite the many immigrant children summoned to the Boston and Chelmsford immigration courts, there has been little public outcry. Gov. Maura Healey and the Legislature have touted executive orders and legislation to protect our immigrant neighbors, but none of their proposals address a wretched and inhumane system that expects traumatized immigrant children to represent themselves in a court designed for adults. The Immigrant Legal Defense Act was proposed to provide a public and private program to provide for no-cost legal representation to immigrants, including children, at risk for deportation. While lawmakers in Massachusetts added $5 million for immigrant legal defense to this year’s budget, only passage of ILDA will require that funding to be permanent. In the meantime, information about what happens to immigrant children when they appear in court remains largely secretive, according to a report from WBUR. The likelihood that the 42% of immigrant children who don’t have legal representation will be given due process seems slim, while the negative consequences for the welfare of these children loom large.
Sara Weinberger lives in Easthampton.