老澳门开奖结果

SEATTLE 鈥� A federal court has granted class-action status to a lawsuit challenging the federal government's failure to provide children in immigration court with lawyers in their deportation hearings. Several thousand children are estimated to be members of the class.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the 老澳门开奖结果, American Immigration Council, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Public Counsel, and K&L Gates LLP.

鈥淭his ruling means that thousands of children will now have a fighting chance at getting a fair day in immigration court,鈥� said Ahilan Arulanantham of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Immigrants鈥� Rights Project and the 老澳门开奖结果 Foundation of Southern California. 鈥淭he Obama administration should stop defending its draconian practice of conducting deportation hearings against unrepresented children.鈥�

The class covers all children under 18 who are in immigration proceedings in the Ninth Circuit on or after June 24, 2016; lack counsel; are unable to afford legal representation; and are potentially eligible for asylum or are potentially able to make colorable claims to U.S. citizenship.

鈥淭he government will not be able to simply delay the case in hoping that a few individual cases may resolve themselves without court intervention. Instead, the government must now defend a system that pits unrepresented children against trained federal prosecutors in an adversarial court hearing that literally may carry life and death consequences for the children involved,鈥� said Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

The lawsuit, J.E.F.M. v. Lynch, was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. It charges the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services with violating the Constitution鈥檚 Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause and the Immigration and Nationality Act鈥檚 provisions requiring a 鈥渇ull and fair hearing鈥� before an immigration judge.

鈥淭his is great news for thousands of children who can now join our lawsuit against a government forcing them to go to immigration court alone,鈥� according to Melissa Crow, legal director of the American Immigration Council. 鈥淯nder no circumstances should children be forced to represent themselves against trained prosecutors seeking their deportation.鈥�

鈥淵ears of experience representing children in immigration court has taught us a simple fact: Children, no matter their circumstances, cannot have a fair hearing without a lawyer,鈥� said Kristen Jackson, senior staff attorney at Public Counsel. 鈥淭he court鈥檚 order recognizes the challenges that immigrant children share and it puts us closer to a day when no child will have to face an immigration judge alone.鈥�

The ruling is at: /legal-document/jefm-v-lynch-order

More information is at: /cases/jefm-v-lynch