Page 40 - Impact: Collected Essays on Expanding Access to Justice

38
v. further Appearances in Immigration Court
In a few months, Miguel will have another hearing at the New York Immigration Court (EOIR) . If Miguel has not secured pro bono assistance or private counsel, he will again have to appear pro se before an immigration judge . Miguel and his father might be unaware that there is immigration relief available to Miguel and even if they are aware, they may not know how to initiate either form of relief: asylum or special immigrant juvenile status . The immigration judge may be able to give some generalized directions about applying for asylum, but he or she is not qualified to explain the procedures for initiating a petition in a state family court . EOIR personnel are aware of these problems and in some cities, the immigration court has created special juvenile dockets and invited non-profits to participate as “Friends of the Court .” In this capacity, non-profit organizations attempt to screen the children arriving for their removal hearings and to quickly advise them about how and where they might pursue immigration remedies . The attorneys acting as “Friend of the Court” are not making formal appearances as attorneys in these children’s cases and as such, their role is limited to assisting the child to seek a continuance .35
The availability of such special juvenile dockets is not guaranteed . In New York, there are currently five special dockets and those were not adequate to handle the increasing workload of juvenile cases . In the summer of 2014, the EOIR created special priority dockets for recently arriving children .36 Until the creation of the new priority dockets for juveniles who arrived after May 1, 2014, children were sometimes scheduled on any immigration judge’s docket and sometimes children arrived at the immigration court when no special volunteers or advocates are present . Further, the non-profit organizations covering the juvenile dockets are not able to directly represent all of the children in removal . A typical master calendar hearing day will have sixty to seventy cases before a single immigration judge . While many of the non-profits work valiantly to try to either directly represent or find pro bono counsel for all of the children, the need far exceeds existing resources .37
After the creation of the priority dockets for recent arrivals of adults with children and unaccompanied children in the summer of 2014, many nonprofit organizations scrambled to
35 Normally an attorney cannot speak on behalf of a person unless he or she has filed a Notice of Appearance (Form EOIR – 28) and is registered with the Immigration Court. 8 C.F.R. § 1292.1. The Friend of the Court is an informal process currently conducted under local ad hoc rules but it may expand to a more formal process as the EOIR anticipates receiving an ever-growing number of children on its dockets. Friends of the Court can assist the child to seek a change of venue if he or she is going to reside in another district. Counsel for ICE usually cooperates with the Friend of the Court process in the interest of streamlining the court procedure. See 42 C.F.R. § 430.76(c); Memorandum from Brian M. O’Leary, Chief Immigration Judge of the u.S Dep’t of Justice, to All Immigration Judges, on Friend of the Court Guidance (Sept. 10, 2014), available at http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/ aba/administrative/immigration/uACFriendCtOct2014.authcheckdam.pdf.
36 Department of Justice Announces New Priorities to Address Surge of Migrants Crossing into the U.S., u.s. deP’T of JusT. (July 9, 2014), http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-announces-new-priorities-address-surge- migrants-crossing-us. This program also created priority dockets for Adults with Children who were admitted into the united States. The vast majority of women with very young children were detained or released with ankle monitors to ensure they returned to Immigration Court. Because the children are traveling with a parent or legal guardian, their cases are consolidated with the adult. Many of these people are also unrepresented.
37 In New York, the following non-profit organizations provide some coverage of the juvenile dockets: The Door, The Legal Aid Society, the New York Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Catholic Charities, Make The Road New York and human Rights First, and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). The Safe Passage Project at New York Law School was responsible for one docket a month and brings volunteer attorneys, law students and volunteer interpreters to the Immigration Court. In August of 2014 Safe Passage Project expanded to begin covering the docket once a week and currently covers three Fridays a month. The authors are both engaged in the work of Safe Passage Project. For more information, please see the Safe Passage Project website at www.safepassageproject.org.
Impact: Collected Essays on Expanding Access to Justice