Dozens of young children, including one who wore a pink shirt and spoke in a sing-song voice, appeared virtually in a Downtown Manhattan immigration court on Wednesday morning. Most lacked attorneys and were facing government lawyers alone as their ability to remain in the United States hung in the balance.
Immigration Judge Lisa Ling admonished one girl for failing to provide a completed asylum application, which the judge said was the third time that important task had been left undone. Without a completed asylum appliImmigration Judge Lisa Ling admonished one girl for failing to provide a completed asylum application, which the judge said was the third time that important task had been left undone. Without a completed asylum application or another form of immigration relief, Ling explained, she could order the child to be deported.
"> The day before yesterday I was going to get in touch with an attorney, but they didn’t call me,” the girl said in Spanish through an interpreter.
Ling replied, “I understand it’s difficult. But with or without an attorney, you need to fill out that application in English.”
The Trump administration allowed a $200 million federal contract providing lawyers for over 24,000 unaccompanied minors across the country to expire on Friday. On Tuesday, the officials announced that a new $150 million contract had been reached — but it won’t start until Aug. 15, leaving untold numbers of children across the country to potentially fend for themselves before immigration judges — as was the case during the virtual proceedings in Manhattan.