Exclusive: ‘I have no one’: Inside a Texas immigration court where children fight to stay in the US

In a Texas courtroom Monday, 25 migrant children lined the pews — a 6-year-old pretended to fly an airplane, a 3-year-old played with the mic, and a teen girl tried to make eye contact with a friend. The judge reminded everyone of what was at stake.

“I see you’re smiling and think these proceedings are funny, but I need you to pay attention,” the judge told the teen girl. “They could determine whether you remain in the country or are removed.”

Migrant children as young as 2 are showing up at immigration courts nationwide, many without attorneys, to make their case to stay in the US and avoid deportation.

Inside the immigration court in Harlingen, Texas, on Monday, caseworkers quietly explained to the minors who everyone was — from the interpreter and secretary to the judge in a black robe.

Most of the children, dressed formally with neatly styled hair, waited impatiently for the judge. Among the first to appear before the judge was a 13-year-old Honduran boy named Angel. He didn’t have an attorney.

Asked whether there was a reason he couldn’t return to Honduras, Angel told the judge, “My mom and almost my entire family are here. It’s too dangerous to go back.”

But that wasn’t enough for the judge, who told the boy he did not qualify for asylum. “Would you like to request voluntary departure, or should I issue a removal order?” The judge asked.

“I don’t know,” Angel replied before bursting into tears. He stared ahead stoically and continued to cry, eventually saying: “I have no one. I have nothing.”

“I understand, but based on your answers, US immigration laws are very strict,” the judge concluded, and gave Angel until the end of the month to appeal his deportation order.

Hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children who were detained trying to cross the southern border or whose families were picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are being held in shelters operated by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is tasked with the care of unaccompanied migrant children.

Under President Donald Trump, they have been increasingly forced to navigate a complicated and accelerated immigration process with dwindling help after the administration ended a long-standing contract for legal services this summer — and as officials try to wrap their cases at an unprecedented pace.

Interviews with more than a dozen lawyers, advocates, and current and former administration officials, as well as a review of court documents and internal agency memos, paint a picture of an immigration system that’s constantly changing, often with little notice, and as a result, fueling confusion and placing immense pressure on vulnerable children facing deportation.

Children as young as 3 appeared in the Texas courtroom Monday, accompanied by their caseworkers.

Mateo, a 3-year-old in a blue jacket with neatly combed hair, was in court for an initial appearance. When called to the defense table, he tested the microphone, drawing laughter from some in the audience. As the judge spoke with Mateo’s attorney, who appeared remotely, the 3-year-old talked and played with the microphone.

The judge later asked a group of 15 minors without attorneys: “Is this your first time in immigration court?”

They all answered, “Yes.”

“Do any of you want voluntary departure?” the judge asked.

No one raised their hand. Another child stretched her hands playfully toward the sky.

A federal law that’s been in place for nearly two decades, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, is supposed to provide protections for unaccompanied migrant children, including screenings to check whether they’re victims of human trafficking or have a credible fear of persecution in their home country.

But advocates and attorneys tell CNN those protections are being undermined under the Trump administration. Children are contending with a fast-tracked immigration process, including abruptly rescheduled asylum interviews, sometimes with only a 24-hour notice — and increasingly without legal help.

Immigration hearings that used to be spread out over months are now happening within days or weeks. And internal procedures are frequently changing.

Relatives and guardians of children, meanwhile, are facing additional hurdles to try to have kids released to them, which the administration says is intended for additional vetting.

Daniel Gestal, deputy director of the children’s program at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said asylum interviews and immigration hearings for children have been sped up recently.

“We have seen that increase over the last couple months and supercharged over the last few weeks,” he said.

That matters for a child whose case may be especially complex. Like adults, children must also present evidence to back up their asylum claim, and there’s no requirement for them to have legal representation throughout the process.

“The 4-year-olds don’t know where they are and what’s going on. They may understand that they’re talking to a judge, and the judge asked them their name, but that’s the extent of their understanding,” an advocate who works with unaccompanied children told CNN.

“I’ve never witnessed so many removals and to see it happen with children who are standing there completely alone,” the advocate said.

While immigrant advocates and attorneys say the changes made by the Trump administration appear intended to quickly remove migrant children, Trump officials argue it’s for the benefit of the children to ensure they aren’t put in harm’s way — and to ensure rigorous vetting.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the US immigration court system, denied claims that cases are being fast-tracked.

A spokesperson for the office said in a statement to CNN that the agency “prioritizes the timely completion of all cases and makes scheduling adjustments as needed to ensure cases do not languish.”

In a critical change in July, the Trump administration allowed a yearslong contract to lapse. The contract, valued at $200 million a year, was with the Acacia Center for Justice, which subcontracted with 100 legal service providers across the US. Together, they provided counsel to more than 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children, according to the center .

The contract to the Acacia Center for Justice funded know-your-rights presentations, legal screenings and legal representation, among other services. Historically, not all unaccompanied children have had attorneys, but under the contract, they all had legal orientations, consultations and referrals.

“Before, under our contract, it was mandatory to enter into representation if a child was moving forward to the pleading stage while in detention. You’d never have a child in detention being ordered removed without representation,” said Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice.

In early August, the Office of Refugee Resettlement awarded up to $20 million to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit organization, to provide legal services through December 31. But in the weeks that followed, attorneys and advocates said in court declarations that the USCRI attorneys either weren’t present or didn’t speak up as kids faced the court. The declarations were submitted as part of an ongoing lawsuit challenging the administration’s initial attempt to terminate the contract.

In a statement to CNN, Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Emily Hilliard cited the contract with the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants as evidence of its commitment to provide legal services to children. “Under the Trump Administration, ORR remains committed to ensuring that every unaccompanied alien child has legal representation in immigration court,” she said.

“ORR will continue facilitating the ability of [unaccompanied alien children] in its custody to fully participate in immigration legal proceedings with representation by counsel, including hearings before EOIR immigration judges, who manage their own juvenile case dockets and schedules and make independent decisions on asylum claims under consideration,” she added.

USCRI did not respond to request for comment about claims that its attorneys were either not speaking up or not showing up at some immigration hearings.

On Monday, an attorney from USCRI watched silently as a virtual “friend of the court” for some of the children, including Angel, according to Lauren Fisher Flores, legal director at ProBar, which provides legal services to unaccompanied children across South Texas.

“In the 20 years I have been in this field, I have never seen the immigration court strip children of their right to seek safety and protection under the law,” said Flores, who attended Monday’s hearing. “We are witnessing the unraveling of due process protections that have been enshrined in our laws for decades. Children deserve better than a fast-track deportation system.”

While some attorneys have continued representing their existing clients, many can’t take on new or additional cases because of the loss in federal funding. Estrella del Paso, which works with unaccompanied minors in El Paso, Texas, closed its program after the expiration of the $200 million contract in late July. Thirteen of the 18 staff members who worked in the program were laid off, according to a court declaration submitted by Melissa Mari Lopez, executive director at Estrella del Paso.

In some courtrooms, immigration judges are requiring children to answer to the charges brought against them by the Department of Homeland Security that they should be removed.

“The kids who are unrepresented, they can’t read the form, much less figure out how to file it. And if they don’t put an asylum claim in, the judges are ordering their removal,” one of the advocates told CNN. “Fundamentally, that’s a complete violation of due process for a child. No one is asking a single question — who will you go to? Will you be safe?”

The lack of, or limited access to legal services, can also significantly impact a child’s asylum claim, which requires an interview with a US asylum officer. The interviews can take hours and dive into potentially traumatic events. In the absence of lawyers, kids go into the interviews alone.

Attorneys told CNN they first try to establish a rapport with a child and then help them understand what to expect in those interviews. Flores described sitting in an interview last month with a 3-year-old, who couldn’t fit in the chair and who subsequently ended up on the floor putting Band-Aids on the furniture and playing with dinosaurs while the asylum officer tried to ask the child questions.

In a September memo reviewed by CNN, ORR told shelters that “in the coming weeks” US Citizenship and Immigration Services would request virtual interviews with kids claiming asylum. The memo states that the attorney of record and/or legal service providers should be notified.

USCIS said in a statement to CNN that it receives lists of kids in custody from Health and Human Services and coordinates with the agency to schedule those with pending asylum applications for interviews — either in person or by video conference, “depending on which is the most expeditious.”

“Whether the face-to-face interview is conducted in person or by video conference, all UACs undergo the same rigorous vetting and security check process,” the statement said.

While attorneys and advocates concede there are parts of the immigration process, like asylum interviews, that were taking too long to get scheduled, the sudden changes and quick timelines place extra stress on children.

“The kids feel that pressure. The terror level of being deported — the reality of that happening soon — is causing anxiety and panic across the board also, which influences how you’re going to do at the interview,” said Laura Nally, program director of the Children’s Program at the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.

In August, there was an average of 1,883 migrant children in HHS custody, according to federal data , lower than in previous years.

ProBar, an organization that provides legal services to unaccompanied migrant children across 17 facilities in South Texas, had been a subcontractor with the Acacia Center for Justice. It continues to provide representation to the clients it already had, but access to other children is now limited.

In a court declaration, the organization cited the case of a 7-year-old who, in August, appeared before an immigration judge without an attorney and was ordered to voluntarily leave the US. The child was given 30 days.

ProBar set up a hotline for the first time called Dory, a reference to the fish in “Finding Nemo” that helps reunite father and son, as a way to serve as a resource to children in custody. It has received more than 200 calls since early August.

“You have some kids expressing emotions, others that are shut down,” said Katherine Beck, an attorney at ProBar. “It’s really, really challenging.” There are 14 staff members responding to the hotline who speak to children about their experience coming to the US, gather general information and provide guidance on the immigration process.

“What we can offer is a deep knowledge of the process,” Beck said.

Many kids are choosing to voluntarily leave the United States and go back to their home country, with the promise of a $3,000 stipend offered by the Department of Homeland Security if they do.

周一，在德克萨斯州的一间法庭里，25名移民儿童坐在长椅上——一个6岁的孩子假装开飞机，一个3岁的孩子玩着麦克风，一个十几岁的女孩试图和朋友进行眼神交流。法官提醒所有人，这件事的利害关系重大。

“我知道你在笑，觉得这些庭审很有趣，但我需要你集中注意力，”法官对这名少女说。“他们可能会决定你是留在美国还是被驱逐出境。”

全国各地的移民儿童，最小的只有 2 岁，纷纷出现在移民法庭上，其中许多人没有律师，他们试图为自己留在美国、避免被驱逐出境辩护。

周一，在德克萨斯州哈林根的移民法庭内，工作人员悄悄地向未成年人解释了每个人的身份——从翻译和秘书到身穿黑袍的法官。

大多数孩子都衣着正式，头发梳理得一丝不苟，焦急地等待着法官的到来。最先出庭的是一位名叫安赫尔的13岁洪都拉斯男孩。他没有律师。

当被问及为何不能返回洪都拉斯时，安赫尔告诉法官：“我的母亲和几乎所有家人都在这里。回去太危险了。”

但法官并不认为这足以让他满意，他告诉男孩他不符合庇护条件。“你是想申请自愿离境，还是我应该签发遣返令？”法官问道。

“我不知道，”安吉尔回答道，随即嚎啕大哭起来。他目光呆滞地望着前方，继续哭泣，最后说道：“我孤身一人，我一无所有。”

“我明白，但根据你的回答，美国的移民法非常严格，”法官总结道，并给了安吉尔到月底的时间对他的驱逐令提出上诉。

数百名无人陪伴的移民儿童，他们要么在试图越过南部边境时被拘留，要么他们的家人被移民和海关执法局带走，目前被安置在卫生与公众服务部难民安置办公室运营的收容所中，该办公室负责照顾无人陪伴的移民儿童。

在唐纳德·特朗普总统的领导下，由于政府今年夏天终止了一项长期的法律服务合同，他们越来越被迫在复杂且快速的移民程序中寻求越来越少的帮助——与此同时，官员们正试图以前所未有的速度处理他们的案件。

通过对十几位律师、倡导者、现任和前任政府官员的采访，以及对法庭文件和内部机构备忘录的审查，我们了解到，移民系统一直在不断变化，而且往往缺乏通知，结果导致混乱，并给面临驱逐出境的弱势儿童带来了巨大的压力。

周一，年仅 3 岁的儿童在社工的陪同下出现在德克萨斯州法庭上。

三岁的马特奥身穿蓝色外套，头发梳得整整齐齐，出庭参加首次庭审。被叫到辩护席时，他试了试麦克风，引得旁听席上一些人发笑。法官与远程连线的马特奥律师交谈时，这个三岁的小男孩一边说着话，一边玩着麦克风。

法官随后问15名没有律师的未成年人：“这是你们第一次上移民法庭吗？”

他们都回答：“是的。”

“你们当中有人想自愿离境吗？”法官问道。

没有人举手。另一个孩子顽皮地伸出双手指向天空。

一项已实施近二十年的联邦法律——2008 年《人口贩运受害者保护再授权法案》——旨在为无人陪伴的移民儿童提供保护，包括进行筛查，以检查他们是否是人口贩运的受害者，或者是否对其祖国遭受迫害抱有合理的恐惧。

但维权人士和律师告诉CNN，在特朗普政府的领导下，这些保护措施正在被削弱。儿童们正面临着快速推进的移民程序，包括突然重新安排的庇护面谈，有时甚至只提前24小时通知——而且他们越来越缺乏法律援助。

过去需要数月才能完成的移民听证会，现在只需几天或几周就能举行。而且内部程序也经常变更。

与此同时，孩子的亲属和监护人想要把孩子交给他们，却面临着额外的障碍，政府表示，这是为了对孩子进行额外的审查。

Amica 移民权利中心儿童项目副主任丹尼尔·格斯塔尔表示，最近儿童的庇护面谈和移民听证会已经加快了速度。

他说：“过去几个月我们看到了这种增长，最近几周更是加速增长。”

对于案情可能格外复杂的儿童来说，这一点至关重要。与成年人一样，儿童也必须提供证据来支持他们的庇护申请，而且他们在整个过程中无需法律代表。

一位与无人陪伴儿童打交道的倡导者告诉 CNN：“这些 4 岁的孩子不知道自己身在何处，也不知道发生了什么。他们可能明白自己正在和法官说话，法官问了他们的名字，但他们的理解能力仅限于此。”

“我从未见过这么多的强制带走事件，更何况是那些孤零零站在那里的孩子，”这位维权人士说道。

尽管移民权益倡导者和律师表示，特朗普政府做出的改变似乎旨在迅速遣返移民儿童，但特朗普政府官员辩称，这是为了儿童的利益，确保他们不会受到伤害，并确保进行严格的审查。

负责监管美国移民法院系统的移民审查执行办公室否认了有关案件正在被快速审理的说法。

该办公室发言人在给 CNN 的一份声明中表示，该机构“优先考虑及时完成所有案件，并根据需要调整日程安排，以确保案件不会积压”。

今年7月，特朗普政府做出了一项关键性决定，终止了一份为期多年的合同。这份价值每年2亿美元的合同是与阿卡西亚司法中心签订的，该中心又与遍布全美的100家法律服务机构签订了分包合同。据该中心称，这些机构共同为超过2万名无人陪伴的移民儿童提供了法律援助。

与阿卡西亚司法中心签订的合同资助了包括“了解你的权利”讲座、法律咨询和法律代理在内的多项服务。以往，并非所有无人陪伴的儿童都能获得律师，但根据合同，所有儿童都接受了法律指导、咨询和转介服务。

“以前，根据我们的合同，如果被拘留的儿童进入认罪阶段，就必须聘请律师。你绝不会看到被拘留的儿童在没有律师的情况下被下令带走，”阿卡西亚司法中心执行主任沙伊娜·阿伯说。

8月初，难民安置办公室向美国难民和移民委员会（USCRI）——一家非营利组织——拨款高达2000万美元，用于提供法律服务至12月31日。但在接下来的几周里，律师和维权人士在法庭声明中指出，USCRI的律师要么缺席，要么在孩子们出庭时保持沉默。这些声明是正在进行的诉讼的一部分，该诉讼旨在挑战政府最初终止合同的企图。

美国卫生与公众服务部发言人艾米丽·希利亚德在接受CNN采访时表示，该部门与美国难民和移民委员会签订的合同证明了其致力于为儿童提供法律服务的承诺。她说：“在特朗普政府的领导下，难民安置办公室（ORR）仍然致力于确保每一位无人陪伴的外国儿童在移民法庭上都能获得法律援助。”

她补充说：“难民安置办公室将继续为被其监护的[无人陪伴的外国儿童]提供便利，使其能够通过律师代表充分参与移民法律程序，包括在移民审查执行办公室 (EOIR) 移民法官面前参加听证会。这些法官管理自己的青少年案件案卷和日程安排，并对正在审理的庇护申请做出独立决定。”

对于有关其律师在某些移民听证会上要么不发言要么不出席的说法，USCRI 没有回应置评请求。

据为德克萨斯州南部无人陪伴儿童提供法律服务的 ProBar 的法律总监 Lauren Fisher Flores 称，周一，来自 USCRI 的一名律师以虚拟“法庭之友”的身份默默旁听了一些孩子的庭审，其中包括 Angel。

“我从事这个领域20年了，从未见过移民法庭剥夺儿童在法律下寻求安全和保护的权利，”弗洛雷斯说道，她出席了周一的听证会。“我们正在目睹几十年来法律中保障的正当程序权利被瓦解。儿童理应得到更好的待遇，而不是快速遣返制度。”

虽然一些律师仍在继续代理现有客户，但由于联邦资金的减少，许多律师无法承接新的或额外的案件。位于德克萨斯州埃尔帕索市、致力于帮助无人陪伴未成年人的Estrella del Paso机构，在7月底价值2亿美元的合同到期后关闭了其项目。根据Estrella del Paso执行主任梅丽莎·玛丽·洛佩兹提交的法庭声明，该项目18名员工中有13人被解雇。

在一些法庭上，移民法官要求儿童对国土安全部提出的驱逐出境的指控作出回应。

“那些没有律师代表的孩子，连表格都看不懂，更别提怎么提交了。如果他们不提交庇护申请，法官就会下令遣返他们，”一位维权人士告诉CNN。“从根本上说，这完全侵犯了孩子的正当程序权利。没有人问过他们一个问题——你们能去哪里？你们安全吗？”

缺乏或难以获得法律服务也会对儿童的庇护申请产生重大影响，因为申请庇护需要与美国庇护官员面谈。面谈可能持续数小时，并深入探讨可能造成创伤的事件。在没有律师的情况下，孩子们只能独自接受面谈。

律师告诉CNN，他们首先会尝试与孩子建立融洽的关系，然后帮助他们了解面谈过程中会发生什么。弗洛雷斯描述了上个月与一名3岁儿童面谈的情景，这名儿童因为个子太小坐不下椅子，最后只好在地板上玩恐龙玩具，一边玩一边给家具贴创可贴，而庇护官员则试图向他提问。

据CNN查阅的一份9月份备忘录显示，难民安置办公室（ORR）告知各收容所，“未来几周内”，美国公民及移民服务局（USCIS）将要求对申请庇护的儿童进行线上视频面试。备忘录指出，应通知申请人的代理律师和/或法律服务机构。

美国公民及移民服务局 (USCIS) 在给 CNN 的一份声明中表示，他们会从卫生与公众服务部收到被拘留儿童的名单，并与该机构协调安排那些有待决庇护申请的儿童进行面谈——面谈可以是亲自面谈，也可以是视频会议面谈，“具体取决于哪种方式最快捷”。

声明称：“无论面试是以当面进行还是通过视频会议进行，所有无人代理候选人都要经过同样严格的审查和安全检查程序。”

虽然律师和倡导者承认移民过程中的某些环节，例如庇护面谈，安排起来耗时过长，但突然的变化和紧迫的时间安排给孩子们带来了额外的压力。

“孩子们能感受到这种压力。被驱逐出境的恐惧——以及这种现实即将发生的现实——也引起了各方面的焦虑和恐慌，这会影响你在面试中的表现，”Amica移民权利中心儿童项目主任劳拉·纳利说道。

根据联邦数据，8 月份美国卫生与公众服务部 (HHS) 拘留的移民儿童平均为 1883 人，低于往年同期水平。

ProBar是一家为德克萨斯州南部17个收容所的无人陪伴移民儿童提供法律服务的机构，曾是Acacia Center for Justice的转包商。该机构目前仍在为原有客户提供法律援助，但接触其他儿童的机会已受到限制。

该组织在一份法庭声明中援引了一个案例：一名7岁儿童于8月在没有律师的情况下出庭，被移民法官勒令自愿离开美国。该儿童被给予30天的时间。

ProBar首次设立了一条名为“多莉”（Dory）的热线，其名称源自电影《海底总动员》中帮助父子团聚的那条鱼，旨在为被监护儿童提供帮助。自8月初以来，该热线已接到200多个求助电话。

“有些孩子会表达自己的情绪，有些孩子则完全封闭自己，”ProBar律师事务所的律师凯瑟琳·贝克说，“这真的非常具有挑战性。”目前有14名工作人员接听热线电话，他们会与孩子们交谈，了解他们来到美国的经历，收集一般信息，并就移民流程提供指导。

贝克说：“我们能够提供的是对整个流程的深入了解。”

许多孩子选择自愿离开美国，返回自己的祖国，因为国土安全部承诺，如果他们这样做，将获得 3000 美元的津贴。