Written by © Alexandra Chambers | 23rd April 2025
In courtrooms across the United States, a human rights crisis is unfolding -one that history will not judge kindly.
Unaccompanied migrant children, some as young as four, are being forced to appear in immigration court without legal counsel. These children, many of whom have experienced severe trauma and fled life-threatening conditions, are expected to understand and respond to complex legal proceedings alone (Sundaram, 2024; Gothamist, 2024).
This inhumane policy emerged following the abrupt cancellation of a $200 million legal aid contract that previously provided attorneys for these minors (Burke, 2024). Without any trained legal advocate, these children are denied the most basic standards of justice and protection.
It must be stated clearly: everyone who participates in this system -those who arrest, detain, interrogate, and judge these children -are complicit in systemic abuse. The notion that “I was just following orders” was rejected at the Nuremberg Trials following the atrocities of Nazi Germany. The lesson was clear: obedience to immoral law does not absolve one of moral responsibility.
Just as history judged those who implemented and upheld discriminatory laws under fascist regimes, it will judge those who today enforce a system that criminalizes and dehumanizes children. The courtroom workers, federal agents, border officials, and policymakers who allow children to be questioned without legal support must be held accountable. This is not merely a policy failure -it is a moral failure.
The United States has never ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child -an international treaty affirming the right of every child to legal protection and humane treatment (UN Treaty Collection, n.d.). By refusing to ratify it, the U.S. has positioned itself outside global norms on children’s rights, further enabling this crisis.
The American Bar Association (2024), the National Center for Youth Law (2024), and other human rights groups have strongly condemned this practice, noting that it dramatically increases the risks of wrongful deportation, trafficking, psychological harm, and re-traumatization.
If we remain silent, we are complicit too. The system is not broken -it is functioning exactly as designed: to deter asylum seekers by dehumanizing even their youngest children.
References
American Bar Association (2024) ABA concerned about cutoff of legal services for children. [online] Available at: https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2024/03/aba-concerned-about-cutoff-of-legal-services-for-children/ [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
Burke, G. (2024) US ends funding for legal aid for unaccompanied migrant children. Associated Press. [online] Available at: https://apnews.com/article/trump-legal-aid-unaccompanied-children-immigration-court-127a69ce69573d2d16c72a74dacef3ab [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
Gothamist (2024) 4-year-old migrant girl, other kids go to court in NYC with no lawyer: ‘The cruelty is apparent’. [online] Available at: https://gothamist.com/news/4-year-old-migrant-girl-other-kids-go-to-court-in-nyc-with-no-lawyer-the-cruelty-is-apparent [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
National Center for Youth Law (2024) NCYL and co-counsel file amicus brief in support of legal representation for unaccompanied children. [online] Available at: https://youthlaw.org/news/ncyl-and-co-counsel-file-amicus-brief-support-legal-representation-unaccompanied-children [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].
UN Treaty Collection (n.d.) Convention on the Rights of the Child. [online] Available at: https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?chapter=4&clang=_en&mtdsg_no=IV-11 [Accessed 23 Apr. 2025].