Webinar-Ensuring Immigration Courts Consider Children’s Best Interests
On Tuesday, June 22, Young Center staff, volunteers, and supporters gathered for a webinar on the organization's fight to protect the best interests of children facing deportation. For 18 years, the Young Center has argued that the federal agencies and courts involved in children's immigration proceedings must consider their best interests in every decision. Young Center Child Advocates submit best interests determinations (BIDs) in immigration court and with various stakeholders-including the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services, and the facilities where children in government custody are placed-to ensure children remain with their families, their rights are protected, have access to the services they need to thrive, and are free of detention and safe. After years of Young Center advocacy, immigration officials now ask for Child Advocates and take our recommendations on immigrant children’s best interests into account. All this, despite there still being no requirement in the law that immigration judges, asylum officers, and other federal officials consider a child’s best interests when making life-or-death decisions. This is why in addition to fighting for individual children's best interests, the Young Center works to change the immigration system, so it recognizes children as children and prioritizes their best interests in every decision made about them.
At the webinar, Young Center staff from around the country discussed our best interests advocacy in court, our fight to get a “best interests mandate” into federal law and policy, and how anyone can join our effort to reimagine the immigration system. Deisy Lee, Young Center-Houston Staff Attorney, described the Young Center's best interests paradigm, how we use the paradigm in individual children’s cases, and how it's designed to help Young Center staff identify moments where bias can negatively impact best interests determinations.
"One challenge in developing best interest determinations requires acknowledgement that best interest is a loaded term. And if you have experience in domestic child welfare system, you know that best interest has been used as a weapon against Black families and families of color, because people interpret best interest without taking into account implicit bias explicit bias structural racism and paternalism for 18 years the young Center has worked hard to identify moments were bias can negatively impact best interest determination and build safeguards to limit bias. These safeguards include a child's rights-based approach to best interests. That means we will not overrule a child's expressed interest, unless there's a serious threat to their safety," Deisy explained.
Highlighting the Young Center’s work to incorporate international standards for child protection, Young Center-San Antonio Social Worker Elizabeth Farias spoke about Best Interests Determination Panels, where staff consult with external experts to help identify a child's best interests.
"In addition to the Young Center staff member involved in the case, at BID panels, we involve experts from various disciplines and diverse backgrounds, including immigration attorneys, child protection specialists, experts on or from the child's country of origin, and professionals from other relevant disciplines such as child development, juvenile justice, psychology, counseling, child maltreatment, domestic violence, and international human rights. This is all to make sure that we have a panel that is going to give us the best determination, has cultural knowledge, and is able to give us the expertise in their field," Elizabeth explained.
As the Young Center advocates for each child we're appointed to in order to ensure their voices are heard and their rights are protected, the organization continues to fight to change the immigration system as a whole. Young Center Policy Analyst Robert Cotter spoke about the organization's work with the Biden-Harris administration, federal agencies, and Capitol Hill to integrating the best interests of immigrant children into law and policy.
"With the change in administrations and Congress in January, new possibilities were opened that just were not available for the last four years. As an example, in February we were delivered a big victory as the Biden administration released its U.S. Citizenship Act and included amongst the provisions in the bill a mandate that “the best interest of the child” shall be the guiding principle of all detention decisions made regarding children at the border. The inclusion of this language in the bill is something to celebrate and likely would not have been possible without the advocacy and focus on ‘best interests’ the Young Center has maintained for 18 years," Robert said about the possibility for sustainable change in the immigration system. However, the work to build a system that welcomes and protects children and prioritizes their safety, needs, and strengths, over deterring migration, is far from over. "We will continue to find avenues, wherever they are, to ensure that immigrant children are afforded the rights and treated with the care they deserve as children," Robert added.