We Will Not Be Disarmed: Migrant children are no-shows at Dallas immigration hearings

Marcos and Crisly, Ana and Blanca, Fabiola and Maria Antonia.
The youths were among 20 from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala who were set to appear in federal immigration court Tuesday for initial deportation hearings. But they weren’t there — 18 of the children whose cases were set to be heard didn’t show up Tuesday for court.
It was an absentee rate that federal Immigration Judge Michael Baird said was “highly unusual,” so high that he reset the hearings for Aug. 11 rather than possibly issuing a deportation order.
Baird said he was concerned that the children may not have received proper notice of the hearings from the government. Attorney Lynn Javier, with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, agreed that it was “prudent” to reset the hearings.
The children are among about 100,000 juveniles who have entered the U.S. without a parent in the last two fiscal years, according to Homeland Security. None of the children set to appear on Tuesday had an attorney, a swelling reality that inspired Dallas Catholic Bishop Kevin Farrell on Monday to appeal to attorneys to step up to provide free services.
The judge’s decision drew… Click Here To Read Full Story