Toddlers ordered to appear in court

-Source-The Texas Tribune- As the White House faces court orders to reunite families separated at the border immigrant children as young as 3 are being ordered into court for their own deportation proceedings according to attorneys in Texas California and Washington D.C. Requiring unaccompanied minors to go through deportation alone is not a new practice. But in the wake of the Trump administrations controversial family separation policy more young children including toddlers are being affected than in the past. The 2000-plus separated children will likely need to deal with court proceedings even as they grapple with the ongoing trauma of being taken from their parents. We were representing a 3-year-old in court recently who had been separated from the parents. And the child in the middle of the hearing started climbing up on the table" said Lindsay Toczylowski executive director of Immigrant Defenders Law Center in Los Angeles. It really highlighted the absurdity of what were doing with these kids." The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency which oversees the deportations of unauthorized immigrants did not respond to a request for comment. Toczylowski said parents typically have been tried along with young children and have explained the often-violent circumstances that led them to seek asylum in the U.S. The children being detained under the new zero tolerance" policy though are facing immigration proceedings without mom or dad by their side. The parent might be the only one who knows why they fled from the home country and the child is in a disadvantageous position to defend themselves" Toczylowski said. Meanwhile the broader legal situation is in flux. A federal judge Tuesday night commanded the White House to reunify families within 14 days if the child is under 5 and 30 days if the child is older. The Justice Department has not indicated whether it will appeal. Attorneys who are involved in the cases said its unclear how the judges order will work in practice and when and how it could take effect.