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More than half of children in ICE immigration courts are representing themselves, DOJ data shows
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2026
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This seems like a complex issue, and I don't necessarily think that not having legal representation for half of them is necessarily the biggest problem.
It's just inexcusable that children are taken from their parents in any case.
All of these kids, lawyer or no, are more or less doomed to a life of abuse, exploitation, poverty, and the resultant mental health problems.
Presumably, the acacia centre of justice is conducting a triage and representing the cases they can where there's a chance of achieving a better outcome.
Them having legal representation is literally due process it’s pretty high on the list of problems. There’s plenty of legitimate reasons to remove kids from their parents, plenty of abusive parents out there, so yes in some cases it is excusable. There’s NO excuse for foregoing due process however
Actually I doubt that's true, in a technical sense.
In a criminal court yes having legal representation is due process.
For the types of court matters which are formulaic and don't really require any discretion or consideration, legal representation isn't really considered a basic right because there may not be much scope to influence the outcome.
If it were a requirement in these cases the federal govt would ensure that these kids do have representation simply to ensure that they can not later appeal on the basis that they did not have representation.
If you had $10 to donate, it would be better used to buy them a toothbrush and soap for wherever they get deported to, rather than paying someone to represent their case in court.
That said I'm gravely concerned for these kids mental and physical well being while in custody. I'm sure the detention centres are just awful places to be.