Over 425,000 Kids in U.S. Face Deportation Hearings Without Lawyers

In April, a 10-year-old Venezuelan boy named Wilfredo Hoyos-Gomez appeared in immigration court in Texas, unaccompanied and without a lawyer. His mother, Nexoli Anyis Gomez Bracho, was arrested during a traffic stop and has been in ICE custody in Houston since December.

Wilfredo entered the U.S. three years ago with his mother. She has a work permit, and their asylum cases are pending. They have no other family in the U.S., and Gomez’s former employer has been looking after Wilfredo while he faces deportation hearings alone.

“I was nervous because it was my first time going to a court,” Wilfredo told Univision after his hearing. The DHS is seeking to deport him to Ecuador, a country where he knows no one and has never been.

Wilfredo is one of hundreds of thousands of children facing pending immigration cases without legal representation nationwide, according to federal immigration data. His case offers a rare glimpse into a system operating outside of public scrutiny. While technically open by law, immigration hearings for children are effectively blocked from public access.

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/children-attorneys-immigration-court-deportation