You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more
During my trip to El Paso with @CitizenPresence created by @HeidiLiFeldman I spent a day in Immigration Court: I was finally admitted to a courtroom at about 2 PM, having waited in the lower lobby since 7:30 AM.
When I entered the court room, there was a hearing in process for a Hispanic woman and her attorney. Soon thereafter they left the courtroom and there was one row of migrants in front of me. All men and one little girl with her father.
I was impressed by how respectful the judge and the translator were in speaking to the men, explaining their rights and responsibilities, and ensuring that they understood everything that was explained to them.
None of them had an attorney, so they were given a list of pro bono attorneys which, unfortunately, I have been told is relatively useless to the migrants. Imagine a migrant trying to figure out how to make a phone call from Mexico to El Paso, let alone having the money to do so
I was also told that very often no one on the list answers the phone. It has been suggested to me, by two attorneys, that it would be much more effective to have a rotating schedule for immigration attorneys to show up and be assigned to the asylum-seekers at their court hearing
rather then putting the burden on asylum-seekers to find an attorney. I believe that programs like Border Angels in San Diego provides such a process. I had become curious about a man in a suit who was giving forms to the migrants on the judge’s direction.
I later learned that he was the attorney for the Department of Homeland Security. On January 22, 2020 when the migrants need to report back to court for their second hearing, the DHS attorney will bring witnesses and apparently make a case against the asylum seekers who
as the judge explained, are in violation of the law having entered the United States seeking asylum. Will they have legal representation? I wonder.
Having been a witness to all the above, I have real people: girls, boys, women and men in my heart forever, wishing I could have done more, hoping for future opportunities to be of service in my small way. I encourage you to do so, as well!
This American Life Episode 688 The Out Crowd is a first hand account of the employees required to turn away asylum seekers. It’s not easy for them - some have refused to do it - all sound anxious sad and hopeless. Give it a listen.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.
