A 1-year-old baby appeared in immigration court without legal representation this week in Arizona and received an instruction: File an asylum application before the next hearing or face deportation.
An attorney from the U.S. Committee for Refugees, one of the groups with a new contract to represent migrant children, was silent as it happened, according to filings Thursday in the legal dispute between a network of nonprofits and the Trump administration.
“The USCRI attorney did not speak up—let alone suggest that it is facially absurd to ask an unrepresented baby to do anything—despite knowing the baby would be ordered deported if unable to file the complicated application by the next hearing,” one filing says.