Washington, D.C., March 16, 2020— On Friday, Young Center Child Advocates spent eight hours in a Texas immigration courtroom with children who are in federal custody awaiting release to family. Under the best of circumstances, these prolonged court hearings are stressful and confusing for children. They are even harder for children, Child Advocates, and attorneys who worry that children are at heightened risk of exposure to COVID-19. Although the Department of Justice recently cancelled initial hearings for immigrants who are not detained, the agency has insisted on moving forward with hearings for detained immigrants, including children in ORR custody. The agency has done so over the objection of the Immigration Judge’s Union, which is also calling for the cessation of hearings. 

We join our allies in immigrant and children's rights organizations in calling for an immediate halt to all immigration court proceedings, including and especially those impacting children, unless there is an urgent need for the hearing. As organizations and schools across the country close for all but emergency cases to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, immigration courts must follow suit. Children come in contact with many people in immigration court—those providing transportation, security guards, others appearing for court, attorneys, and judges. Children also come into contact with many common surface areas, including metal detectors, crowded waiting room benches, and courtroom tables shared by many people. Requiring children to come into crowded courtrooms risks their health and safety by exposing them and their caretakers. 

Please join us in demanding that the Department of Justice postpone hearings for detained, unaccompanied children until it is clear that they can appear in court safely—and in reminding the agency that video hearings are never an appropriate substitute for in-person hearings for children whose lives hang in the balance at these critical hearings.

The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights is a human rights organization that protects and advances the rights and best interests of immigrant children and advocates for an immigration system that treats children as children first.

For press inquiries, please contact Noorjahan Akbar at media@theyoungcenter.org or 202-725-7184.