Durbin Continues To Raise Alarms About Severe Due Process Violations Targeting Unaccompanied Children At The Chicago Immigration Court Under The Trump Administration's Cruel[...]

Durbin Continues To Raise Alarms About Severe Due Process Violations Targeting Unaccompanied Children At The Chicago Immigration Court Under The Trump Administration's Cruel Immigration Policies

Today, Durbin joined the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Children's Legal Center, & other elected officials to observe the removal proceedings of unaccompanied children appearing on the "mega masters" court docket

CHICAGO - After observing the removal proceedings of unaccompanied children (UACs) appearing on the "mega masters" court docket at the Chicago Immigration Court, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today raised concerns about severe due process violations targeting unaccompanied children due to the Trump Administration's cruel immigration policies. Durbin was joined this morning by the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), the Children's Legal Center (CLC), other elected officials including U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), and community partners. Following the observation, Durbin and Quigley attended a press conference to speak about what they saw.

"What I witnessed today illustrated President Trump and Stephen Miller's ruthless agenda: they will go so far with their cruel immigration operation to target terrified children, forcing them to articulate their fears in front of a judge and explain why they must remain in this country," said Durbin. "As a father and grandfather, I cannot fathom the cruelty this Administration has inflicted on immigrants-including children across the country. I will continue to work with NIJC and CLC to end this Administration's disgusting attacks on children and relegate their actions to the dustbin of history where they belong."

"The children I saw today are being put through hell. The Trump administration isn't going after 'the worst of the worst.' They're deporting kids. Children are being seen in immigration court without lawyers, without parents, and facing a language barrier, and being asked to explain why they deserve to stay in this country. These are kids young enough to be playing with toys while they wait for their turn in front of a judge. A judge who couldn't even show up to the courtroom to look these children in the eye. As always, the cruelty is the point," said Quigley. "Using children to instill fear and intimidate immigrant communities is beyond the pale. I'm going to keep working with the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Children's Legal Center, and Senator Durbin to protect immigrant kids and families."

For a photo of the press conference, click here.

Following the Administration's continued attacks on UACs and expansion of mass immigration enforcement operations, Durbin observed the juvenile proceedings of the court's "mega masters" docket, in which dozens of immigrants are brought into a single judge's courtroom for a massive preliminary procedural hearing, and the impact of children being subjected to deportation orders before they receive humanitarian relief they are eligible for under the law.

Although the Trump Administration claims they are providing "wellness checks" on UACs, these "wellness checks" evolved into extended enforcement operations under the guise of protecting children, with the intent of securing collateral arrests, particularly the sponsors of UACs. In many of these cases, the UACs were taken away from a sponsoring family member, even possibly their parent, and moved into federal custody, primarily in federally-contracted shelters in Texas. This follows thousands of children experiencing abrupt changes in their legal representation with the expiration of the legal services contracts that funded the pro bono services of providers such as CLC and NIJC.

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