On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that Immigrant minors, crossing the border unaccompanied by their parents, have the legal right to challenge detention decisions in court rather than being turned over to family members already living in the US.
The two laws passed by Congress do not end unaccompanied immigrant children’s right to a bond hearing when detained by federal authorities, according to the 9th US Circuit of Appeals. In recent years, tens of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant minors have entered the US, fleeing gang violence in Central American countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Federal officials place the majority with family members already in the country, allowing them to be cared for and go to school while waiting for the immigration court system to hear their cases.
But, the Department of Homeland Security has the right to keep immigrant minors in secure facilities if they have committed a crime or represent a danger either to the community or themselves, and some have been in detention for several months. According to immigrant advocates, the number in detention consists of several hundred minors, and say that bond hearings will enable them to comprehend why they are being held and to challenge that decision.
Holly Cooper, the co-director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the Davis University of California, says that all manner of psychological effects can result in minors if they are not given transparency and a date when they can expect their detention to end.