Fourteen-year-old Elizita sat in a courtroom next to her father on Thursday as an immigration judge called the names and case numbers of children like herself who had entered the country illegally and unaccompanied through the southwest border.
There were 50 names listed in the morning priority docket for courtroom C on the 12th floor of the Peter W. Rodino Federal Building in Newark. Guardians, their children and attorneys filled the benches in the room, some stood by the doorway. Many adults clutched folders and documents as they waited for their child’s name and case number to be called.Elizita, whose father asked she be identified by the name he calls her as a term of endearment, said she was nervous; it was the second time she was scheduled to be in court since arriving in New Jersey in August from a temporary shelter in Arizona. In November, Elizita went to the same court room, but since she didn’t have an attorney she was given a new court date to find one.On Thursday, Elizita and her father still did not have a lawyer. Her father, F. Toj, who lives in the country illegally in West New York and asked he be identified by his maternal grandmother’s name, said that he had met with attorneys, but none yet had taken the case.
“I know what’s necessary is a lawyer,” he said. “I’ll start looking again this week because that’s what is most important.”Elizita is among the tens of thousands of minors smuggled to the border and detained since October 2013. Elizita left Guatemala in mid-June bound for Texas to join her father, who has lived in New Jersey for four years. She said she wanted to be with him and pursue a better education. The surge, which continued through last year, drove the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a division within the Department of Justice, which oversees the immigration courts, to appoint temporary judges and to add priority dockets last summer for unaccompanied children.So far, nationwide between July 18 through Jan. 27, the Executive Office for Immigration Review said it has had 23,036 unaccompanied children cases, with 5,030 completed. Of those completed, immigration judges have issued 3,665 removal orders, including 3,271 that were issued in absentia, which is 65 percent of all cases completed, according to figures from the immigration review office. Local figures were not available on Thursday.This week in Newark, priority dockets for unaccompanied children were held Wednesday and Thursday with several dozen children, ranging in age from 11 to 18, making appearances. In many of the cases, the children were given a new date to appear, with some attorneys indicating to the judge that they planned to apply for asylum or other types of relief to obtain lawful legal status.
Joyce A. Phipps, an attorney and director of Casa de Esperanza in Bound Brook, said the non-profit agency is representing between 250 to 300 unaccompanied children, and on a daily basis continues to interview more to take on as clients. Phipps attended immigration court on Wednesday and Thursday, and is often in court on priority docket days. She said she has noticed that many minors are showing up without legal representation.“There is a real problem with the lack of pro-bono attorneys in New Jersey, there are simply not enough. …and a lot of these people need pro bono representation,’’ said Phipps. “The difference between success and failure in legal representation is pretty significant.”In the courtroom Thursday, Elizita and her father walked toward a desk closer to Immigration Judge Amiena Khan and took a seat. Khan first noted Elizita’s presence for the record and that she and her father were appearing pro se. After stating her full name, the judge asked her a few other questions.“Are you still in school?,” Khan asked.“Yes,” Elizita answered in a low voice in Spanish after the question was translated.“Is everything going OK in school?” the judge asked.“Yes,” she answered.“Are you here with your father today?,” the judge asked.“Yes,” she answered once again.When Toj told the judge he could not find a lawyer, she reminded him that Elizita has a right to legal representation, but at no cost to the government. The judge said if he’s unable to get a lawyer or if he chooses not to retain one the proceedings will go forward.“But immigration proceedings are complicated and I implore you to get a lawyer on her behalf,” Khan said before she reset the matter to July 8.The judge also gave Toj a list of low-cost legal service providers.Toj said once he finds a lawyer that person will also represent his 16-year-old nephew, Jonas Cua, who also entered the country illegally and was detained with Elizita in June. His nephew’s next court appearance is scheduled for May 6.After attending an information session given by a representative from Catholic Charities at the courthouse, Toj said he was reminded how difficult his daughter’s and nephew’s immigration cases will be. He said he keeps telling his daughter to study and learn English because it will help her in the future no matter where she lives.“If my daughter has to go to Guatemala she’ll return to be with her mother and her siblings and she will be fine, but I also want to try and see if she can stay,’’ he said in Spanish. “That way she might be able to stay here and in the future she can help her mother, and brothers and sisters.”
Source: North Jersey
