By Juan Soto
Help is on the way for hundreds, if not thousands, of unaccompanied minors facing deportation at immigration court.
In Queens alone, between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 of this year, 676 minors were settled with family members or sponsors, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a federal agency. In New York City, the number of juveniles, most of them escaping gang violence or poverty in Central America, who were reunited with their families in the same period reached 1,552.
Most of them are facing deportation hearings.
In response, the New York City Council, the Robin Foundation and the New York Community Trust will provide legal and other services to these minors facing removal under an accelerated process.
According to the City Council, the new process by the U.S. Justice Department began on Aug. 13. With the “surge docket,” the federal government tries to expedite the legal hearings of the minors.
The City Council “will not stand by as this humanitarian crisis unfolds,” Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan) said. “This innovative initiative will go a long way towards alleviating the overflow at the surge docket while also providing quality representation to thousands of children.”
The City Council will fund the project with $1 million, while the Robin Foundation, the largest poverty-fighting organization in New York, will donate $550,000, and the New York Community Trust, which has funded city’s nonprofit for decades, will contribute $360,000.
“In 2014, more than 2,500 children will flee violence in Central America,” said Eric Weingartner, managing director for the Robin Foundation. “Without legal representation, these children are four times as likely to be sent back to the dangerous countries they fled.”
Since the middle of August, the number of these court removal proceedings went up from about 100 unaccompanied minor cases a month to about 30 per day, according to the City Council.
The New York Community Trust “is proud to show New York leading the nation with government and nonprofits working together for children who are seeking a better life,” said Shawn Morehead, program officer of the group.
The $1.9 million effort will provide minors with access to legal counsel. Some of the service providers that will ensure due process for minors are The Legal Aid Society, The Door, Catholic Charities Community Services, The Safe Passage Project, Make the Road NY and Central American Legal Assistance.
Lenni Benson, director of The Safe Passage Project at the New York Law School, said that in July, August and some September days, about 800 lawyers attended free training sessions.
“But relying on pro bono alone will not meet the legal needs for this vulnerable population,” testified Benson during an Assembly hearing about the state’s role in addressing the influx of migrant kids from Central America.
Reach reporter Juan Soto by e-mail at jsoto@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
