Upfront- All By Themselves

The Upfront article quote “All By Themselves” is about what happens to children who illegally cross the border into America. These children are often fleeing from extremely dangerous situations. One of the stories in the article is about a girl who received death threats in her homeland, Guatemala. A smuggler hired to take her north abandoned her, and she attempted to cross the border into the U.S. six times. She was caught on the last attempt and sent to a detention camp on her own. This nineteen-year-old girl, Ana, was granted asylum, however many cases similar to hers will never be approved by the courts because the children are not given public defense lawyers and have no money to pay for their own. These children should be provided lawyers so that they can properly make their case to the court that they should be allowed to stay in the U.S.

Oftentimes, children immigrating to the U.S. have nowhere safe to go and are coming from bad situations. A quote from the article that illustrates this point is, “When Belkis Rivera was six, her mom and brothers fled Honduras to the United States to escape a street gang that had killed her grandmother and her uncle. She was left behind with other family members. But at thirteen, threatened by the same game, Belkis decided to follow, making a terrifying six-month journey across Mexico by herself.” 

This quote illustrates some of the hardships immigrating children face. In the article it also says, “Now she faces one more trauma: America’s judicial system. In the U.S., anyone accused of a crime has the right to a lawyer. But under U.S. immigration law, undocumented immigrants aren’t entitled to a public defender, even when they are minors.” This quote shows how we as a country could be doing more to help these people when they’re in need. By simply providing them with public defense lawyers they would have a chance at being admitted legally. 

Without lawyers, it is almost impossible for these kids to convince courts that they should be allowed to stay in the U.S.  In the article it says, “…40 percent of unaccompanied children potentially qualify for asylum of some other special juvenile-immigrant status because they fear persecution in their home country, or because they were abused or abandoned by a parent. Yet only a tiny fraction ends up winning their cases. Not surprisingly, those with legal representation, the study says, are nearly nine times more likely to win.” There are laws in place to help these children but they cannot take advantage of them without representation. In the article, it also says, “Without a lawyer, she [Ana] would most likely have been deported, like so many others. That could be the fate of Belkis Rivera, who has to return to court in the fall to make her case. Now fifteen, Belkis has an attorney on her side, but still fears deportation to Honduras - and the violence she experienced there.” If they were always granted public lawyers, a higher percentage of these children would be safe and wouldn't have to go back to their starting point.

In conclusion, the U.S. should do everything in its power to make entering this country legally easier to children coming from dangerous places. These children are usually defenseless and often alone or separated from their families. We have laws that help them, but without a lawyer, they cannot successfully navigate the judicial system. Children should be given special consideration because they are unable to support or protect themselves if returned to their home countries. Even if it’s not possible to change the policy that prevents all undocumented immigrants from being provided public defenders, an exception should be made for vulnerable children coming into the U.S. on their own, because they need all the help they can get.