Senators Blast Trump’s Plan to Rig Child Deportation Proceedings
Congressional Democrats sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday, urging him to rescind a new policy they say violates the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children and makes them vulnerable to deportation. Under the policy, unaccompanied minors would be represented in court by HHS lawyers instead of […]
A group of senators is criticizing President Trump's plan to have HHS lawyers represent unaccompanied immigrant children in deportation proceedings. The senators, including Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, Elizabeth Warren, and Edward Markey, argue that this policy creates a conflict of interest, as the HHS and the immigration judges are both part of the Trump administration.
The lawmakers are concerned that the child's lawyer would be biased towards deportation due to the shared interest in removing immigrants. The senators point out that the federal law requires unaccompanied minors to have an attorney and that HHS regulations stipulate independent legal representation. Currently, HHS oversees the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which places kids in shelters and decides when to release them to relatives.
The senators argue that HHS cannot simultaneously function as the child's lawyer. The issue has been further complicated by the Trump administration's decision to award the legal representation contract to companies with ties to Trump, such as Burke Law Group and Our Rescue. Both options have been criticized for their lack of experience in handling unaccompanied minors' cases.
Meanwhile, the original network of nonprofits providing legal representation has faced challenges, with the administration's temporary contract going to a nonprofit whose personnel often sit silently in court and have represented only 12 children so far.
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