According to attorneys in Texas, California and Washington D.C., immigrant children as young as three years old are being ordered into court alone for their deportation proceedings. While having children appear in court without their parents is not uncommon, more children are being summoned in record numbers. Since the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, more children — including toddlers — are being prosecuted more frequently than ever before.
More than 2,000 detained migrant children could face court proceedings in the coming days.
“We were representing a 3-year-old in court recently who had been separated from the parents. And the child—in the middle of the hearing—started climbing up on the table,” Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of Immigrant Defenders Law Center in Los Angeles, told the Texas Tribune. “It really highlighted the absurdity of what we’re doing with these kids.”
Toczylowski said parents are usually prosecuted with their young children and are often the ones defending the circumstances that led them to seek asylum in the U.S.
This news comes out after a federal judge ordered separated families be reunited within 30 days.
On June 26, a federal judge commanded the White House to reunify families within 14 days if the child is under 5 and 30 days if the child is older. The Justice Department has not said whether it will appeal the ruling. Attorneys involved in the case said they’re not sure how the judge’s order will work and when and how it could take effect.
Despite the judge’s order, some children are facing legal immigration proceedings without their parents.
Immigrant toddlers ordered to appear in court alone. Anyone thinks this does anything but result in a trampling of a child’s humanity and make a mockery of the US justice system? https://t.co/vn8FVDibZ0
According to NBC News, leaders at three legal services organizations and a private firm said that the children are being served with notices to appear for their court proceedings. Migrant children that appear in court are not entitled to an attorney but rather are given a list of legal services that might help them.
Since April, more than 2,000 children have been separated from families.
The Trump administration is refusing to answer questions about how it will reunify migrant families separated at the border, raising concerns it will fail to comply with an order to swiftly return children to their parents #tictocnews@aawaynepic.twitter.com/cO2Js32vn2
The “zero tolernace” policy, announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in April, ordered the criminal prosecution of anyone who enters the U.S. illegally. Such crossing were formally handled as civil matters allowing families to stay together. President Trump signed an executive order to keep migrant families together after outrage forced him to change his policy.
If last year’s midterm primaries taught us anything, it was that everyone, regardless of their background or story, has a right to run for office. Furthermore, first-time politicians who want to help the marginalized community are encouraged to run, and we now have proof they can win.
Meet Selena Alvarenga, a gay immigrant of El Salvador, that is seeking to run for District Court Judge in Texas.
Facebook/Selena-for-Judge
Alvarenga’s campaign for judge of Travis County’s 460th District Court is steaming rolling right along as they prepare for an election. While this new seat has never been conquered, the election will be an exciting one to watch. It won’t take place until March 2020, but there’s no better time to jump into campaign mode.
She understands that her background isn’t a typical one, but that’s what makes her a perfect candidate to fight for people’s rights.
Credit: @selenaforjudge / Twitter
Her history as a lawyer spans two decades, and she’s an alum of St. Mary’s Law School in San Antonio.
Alvarenga migrated to the U.S. with her father in the 1970s after they fled the Salvadoran Civil War.
Facebook/Selena-for-Judge
“One day, I literally woke up, and my father said everything was packed. He said it was getting too dangerous and we had to leave. We got in the car and we started driving north,” Alvarenga said in an interview with Popsugar.
According to her website, her father worked as a computer programmer at a bank in El Salvador but in the U.S. he could only get work serving fast food. “When he finally did find a job in his field, it was in Alaska. Selena was one of three Latin American immigrants in her class.”
“I didn’t know any English, so I went to [an English as a second language] school,” she said to the publication. That adversity only helped Alvarenga excel in school.
Some of the issues she’s ready to address in her campaign include LGBTQ+ rights and ending cash bail.
Catalina Cruz was born and raised in Colombia until her mother brought her through JFK airport when she was just nine years old in hopes of a better life. Today, 35-year-old Cruz is running for an Assembly seat in Queens’ 39th District. She is the first “Dreamer” to run for office in New York State, and is relying on folks turning out for the September primary elections to put her in office to become the third Dreamer elected to the U.S. government.
Her story will inspire you, and hopefully it will blossom into real reform for neighborhoods like Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.
First thing’s first: Catalina Cruz is running for a Democratic seat.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
When she arrived in the U.S., neither her, her mother, nor her three American-born siblings knew English. In order for her family to survive, her mother had to work odd jobs, like selling pastelitos, nannying and even passing out fliers for $40 a day.
Cruz is an attorney and community organizer.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
She lived undocumented for ten years, and finally got her citizenship in 2009. She started her career as a housing attorney, which meant she was taking on low-income clients who were fighting banks and gentrification for their own homes.
Ahe is the president of the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
She’s spent the last five years working to bring “Know Your Rights” presentations to underserved communities, and has been mentoring students in local law schools to understand law in the Spanish language.
Her issues are near and dear to Latino hearts.
CREDIT: @CatalinaCruzNY / TWITTER
In a Twitter post, Cruz wrote, “Research shows dual language students tend to perform as well as, or better, academically. We should expand dual language and bilingual programs to foster diversity and inclusion.”
One of her top priorities is public education reform.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
Cruz is running for one of the most diverse districts in the state, in the most overcrowded city. Along with expanding dual language programs in the school, Catalina wants to end annual standardized tests that are used to close schools, punish teachers, and give bonuses to principals. She wants to increase funding for STEM, programs and ensure food justice for all children by serving healthy and culturally affirming meals like halal, kosher, vegan, etc.
Shockingly, under state law, criminal charges can be brought against women who have abortions.
CREDIT: @CatalinaCruzNY / TWITTER
Not only does Cruz want to reverse that law, she always wants to help Roe v Wade to make reproductive rights affirmatively legal and safe.
Cruz is for single-payer health care reform.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
Latinos are the most under insured group in America with 1 in 4 Latinos living without health insurance. Finding a way to guarantee health as a human right will only further benefit our community.
Girl’s got a gay agenda. 🤩
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
She calls it an “LGBT Agenda,” and we’re here for it. She wants to ban conversion therapy and pass a bill called GENDA (Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act) to include gender expression as a protected human right. She also wants to include LGBT history in schools’ curriculum, make sex education more inclusive and protect seniors seeking LGBT friendly social services.
Cruz wants airlines to fund parks, playgrounds and school upgrades to the communities they pollute.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
“Residents tell me everyday that airplane noise, traffic congestion, and pollution are on the rise in Corona, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights,” Cruz says in a statement on her website. “I am running for the State Assembly to be an advocate for our community on the issues that most impact the lives of our children, seniors, and families. Communities that most experience the impact from airport operations should also experience more benefits. With the Airport Impact Fund, we have an opportunity to make this possible.”
With more than 90 percent of the 39th District being people of color, they’re even more at risk of being victim to our criminal justice system.
CREDIT: @CatalinaCruzNY / TWITTER
“We can create a truly more just system in New York,” Cruz says on her website. “As it exists, the entire criminal justice system targets poor communities of color from beginning to end. We can do much better.” Cruz wants to legalize marijuana and end the cash bail bond system, to start with.
A top issue for Cruz is fixing the housing crisis.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
With her legal experience in helping low-income families keep their homes, Cruz claims she can fix the problem. She wants to establish a state funded legal team to represent tenants, mandate that landlords renew rent controlled leases until the tenant decides to terminate and incentivizing developers to ensure rent remains affordable.
She is making it her mission to protect immigrants.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
Over 60 percent of residents in the 39th District are undocumented, which means that they can’t vote for Cruz. Cruz wants to implement a $100 million fund for immigrant legal services to ensure that families stay together.
She also wants to protect fingerprint information from federal agencies (i.e. ICE) by passing the NY State Liberty Act, and make driver’s licenses accessible to every resident, regardless of immigration status.
Cruz has a “Street Safety” plan.
CREDIT: @CatalinaCruzNY / TWITTER
“According to new research, Jackson Heights, Corona, and Elmhurst are among the most dangerous neighborhoods to pedal or walk through,” Cruz says on her website. “We must make street safety a top priority.”
Cruz wants to prevent pedestrian deaths by increasing penalties for drivers who hit-and-run and adding time to pedestrian walk signals.
One of her key issues is fixing the New York subway system, which has been failing.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
For the last 30 years, funding has decreased for the MTA, which has weakened the sole source of transportation for most working families in the community. She wants to break the MTA up into several different agencies that can more easily manage smaller systems, and to invest more in repairs.
The attorney turned politician is here por los viejos.
CREDIT: Catalina Cruz Campaign
She has a whole five point plan to keep seniors in their homes, pass legislation to combat age discrimination in the workplace, fund “culturally competent” senior programs (i.e. ones that create a niche community for the LGBT community, Spanish-speaking seniors, etc.), and upgrade senior taxi services to be more like Uber/Lyft.
She has been vocal about rejecting corporate and big pharma money.
CREDIT: @CatalinaCruzNY / TWITTER
She wants to unequivocally fight for a single payer health care system.
Cruz wants to inspire other people like her with her campaign for New York Assembly.
CREDIT: @AmplifyHerNYC / TWITTER
Granted, there are so, so many other candidates with beautiful stories, but we know without a doubt that Cruz will have Dreamers’ and Latinos’ backs.
So if you’re reading this, go do your own candidate research and vote.
CREDIT: Untitled. Digital Image. The Cut. 18 August 2018.
The most important thing anyone can do is to to vote for themselves and for their community. Don’t forget that elections have consequences.
