Thread: New Case Could Undermine ACLU’s Push To Secure U.S. Abortions For Illegal Immigrants

Originally Posted by MW

Is this the law you're talking about? If so, it doesn't apply.

What The Law Actually Says About Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors

by James Spurgeon in Foreign Policy Jul 10, 2014

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Since October 2013, 52,000 children from Central America have been apprehended crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. They are coming here by themselves, many searching for their parents. It’s just one more piece in the larger immigration debate that seems to have quieted down until after the November election.

Republicans in Congress are quick to point the finger at the Obama administration. Two years ago, the administration decided to defer deporting young immigrants who met certain criteria and have lived in the states continuously since June 2007. But, as usual with partisan rhetoric, they are missing half of the debate.

In 2008, Congress passed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which the Senate passed by unanimous consent, and was signed by President George W. Bush. Though the law’s main intent deals with human trafficking, it does contain a section that deals with children arriving in the U.S. illegally unaccompanied by an adult.

Children from Mexico are returned immediately, as they would be if they were an adult apprehended illegally entering the U.S. However, children from a non-contiguous nation, such as those in Central America, have a different process.

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The children must be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services which is in charge of their care, finds them safe housing, and apprises them of their legal rights as their immigration cases are decided. Deportation proceedings can take time as immigration courts are generally backed up.

Republicans, who in recent weeks have claimed that the Obama administration is not enforcing the laws passed by Congress, are actually demanding that the president not enforce the TVPRA and send the children back to their home countries immediately without any deportation hearings.Last week, President Obama signaled a willingness to do so but only if Congress modified the TVPRA. The leadership of both the House and the Senate do not seem to be interested in changing the current law, and as of July 7, the Obama administration has backtracked a little though it still would like more authority to act.

Until the law is changed, the children that have come here unaccompanied have to go through the process outlined by the TVPRA. President Obama has asked Congress for $4 billion in extra funds to deal with the situation.

In the debate surrounding these children, it should be noted that they are not refugees or seeking asylum which would be completely different. Asylum and refugee status are special legal protections only available to people who have fled their home countries out of fear and cannot return and can only be sought once they have entered the U.S. There are strict requirements that a person must show in order to be granted those protections.

And though we debate this issue now in regards to Mexicans and those from Central American countries, this is not the first time we as a nation have had this discussion. In the mid-19th century, it was over Irish immigrants. Most were processed legally through Ellis Island but the same arguments that were used then are still being used today against legal and illegal immigrants.

In the end, the TVPRA is a law passed by Congress that President Obama must enforce. If Republicans in Congress have a problem with that, then they need to change the law instead of telling the president not to enforce it.

This doesn’t come as a result of a DREAM Act. It comes from an inability to deal with our broken immigration system in terms of those wanting to come here legally, and what to do with those who enter illegally.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly.” For now, as we detain these illegal immigrant children, we need to treat them humanely until they are eventually returned to their countries of origin. If Republicans want this process to be sped up, then they need to revise the TVPRA.

https://ivn.us/2014/07/10/law-actually-says-unaccompanied-immigrant-minors/

Okay, seems children from Mexico can be returned immediately if caught at the border just like any other illegal caught within 100 miles of the border. The children this trafficking law covers are those children from other countries. However, even they can be sent home, depending on the final disposition of their court case. This law took effect in 2008, not 2003.

No, the law I'm talking about is the one passed in 2003.

Executive Summary
Every year in the United States
, thousands of noncit
izen children who have been separated
from their parents or other legal guardians unde
rgo removal (deportation) proceedings before
the Executive Office for Immigration Review (E
OIR), the office within the Department of
Justice that oversees the U.S. im
migration courts. Unfortunately,
pro bono
(volunteer) legal
services for these “unaccompanied children”
are in short supply, and very few of these
children have the resources to hire their own
legal counsel. As a result, many have no choice
but to go through the difficult and intimidating
experience of appearing
in immigration court
without legal representation.

In 2002, when Congress passed the Homeland Secu
rity Act, it transf
erred the care and
custody of unaccompanied children from the form
er Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) to the Office of Refugee
Resettlement (ORR) and in doi
ng so, instructed the ORR to
develop a plan to ensure the timely appointment of legal counsel for each unaccompanied
child in its custody. In response to this legisl
ative mandate, the ORR asked the Vera Institute
of Justice to administer a pilot project,
called the Unaccompanied Children Pro Bono Project
(UACPBP), which provides
pro bono
legal services to
unaccompanied children in removal
proceedings through local subcontractors, and to
draft a series of reco
mmendations as to how
the ORR can provide qualified le
gal counsel to all such child
ren in a timely manner.
This literature review, which examines articl
es by an assortment of scholars, advocates,
and practicing attorneys, seeks to inform Ve
ra’s work by sketching
an overview of the
published research on unaccompanied children in the
United States. It also seeks to place that
overview in its proper legal, in
stitutional, and historical cont
ext. The report should be of
interest to practitioners, resear
chers, and scholars whose work
touches on immigration issues.
The literature on unaccompanied children in th
e United States has identified a handful of
broad concerns. These include the lack of
systematic research
on the migration of
unaccompanied children; the failure of U.S. immi
gration law to adopt sufficient child-specific
standards; the lack of consensus on the need fo
r child advocates; the
absence of the child’s
perspective from immigration policy proposal
s or decisions; the methods used by the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to
classify unaccompanied children; the need for
clear policies regulating confiden
tiality, repatriation, a
nd reunification with family members;
the challenges that unaccompanied children in
federal custody face in applying for Special
Immigrant Juvenile Status; and finally, the lack
of legal counsel for unaccompanied children.
The literature also points to substantial im
provements in the treatment of unaccompanied
children in recent years. These
include the introduction of procedural safeguards for children
in removal proceedings; a reduction in the
use and length of detention and a general
improvement in conditions that accompanied the
transfer of responsibility for the care and
custody of unaccompanied children from the now-defunct INS to the ORR; and an increased
awareness of trafficking in children.

http://www.f2f.ca.gov/res/pdf/Unacco...hildren-US.pdf

I'm not going to spend the time correcting this pdf the way it transfers, so sorry it is hard to read. It's depressing to learn that you are not aware of this law that's been around since the first term of the GW Bush administration.

Trump knows about it and he's trying to repeal it, but needs Congress to do it.

Judy wrote (excerpt):

I'm not going to spend the time correcting this pdf the way it transfers, so sorry it is hard to read. It's depressing to learn that you are not aware of this law that's been around since the first term of the GW Bush administration.

No need to depress yourself over my knowledge. First off, unlike you, I never professed to be all knowing. Secondly, If I were you, I'd be more concerned about your own failure of comprehension and lack of knowledge.

As the two previous articles I posted clearly show, the law you're referring to does not prevent the deportation of minor children. Unaccompanied Mexican children can still be immediately deported and Unaccompanied children from other countries can still be deported after their day in court.

Judy, what about artist's comment regarding Trump re-authorizing the program you're talking about? If that's true, why would he take that action if it stopped him from doing something he wanted to do?

I don't care if y'all bicker with facts, just don't get personal.

Originally Posted by MW

Judy wrote (excerpt):



No need to depress yourself over my knowledge. First off, unlike you, I never professed to be all knowing. Secondly, If I were you, I'd be more concerned about your own failure of comprehension and lack of knowledge.

As the two previous articles I posted clearly show, the law you're referring to does not prevent the deportation of minor children. Unaccompanied Mexican children can still be immediately deported and Unaccompanied children from other countries can still be deported after their day in court.

No one said it did. My post about the 2003 law was in response to your post for DHS, ICE, Trump or all three to drop her at the Mexican border crossing gate. And I posted they can't do that because of this 2003 law. We're talking about the girl in this article who is already in the ORR program, because of the 2003 law I pointed out to you. Her case will be handled by DOJ and the court system. 90% of the minors in this program who have attorneys are never deported and those who are are deported years down the road, certainly not in time to avoid an anchor baby birth when the minor is pregnant as is the girl in this thread article we're talking about.

Originally Posted by MW

Judy, what about artist's comment regarding Trump re-authorizing the program you're talking about? If that's true, why would he take that action if it stopped him from doing something he wanted to do?

I have no idea what artist is talking about, you'll need to ask artist for a link.

Previously posted - trump reauthorized the loophole for central americans to be escorted to some sort of relative, illegal or not and receive schooling, healthcare/dental, schooling, monthly monies and right to stay in USA, etc. This disguised as an anti trafficking law/act - enacted by congress but requires re-authorization by pres - that he did!