![]() At the end, Judge Zanfardino gives the 17-year-old what she came here for. The entire proceeding lasts around 20 minutes. Whether she would be sent away with a two-month supply of medications was entirely up to ICE. It’s true: Immigration judges lack the autonomy of criminal and civil court judges while they can administer oaths and interrogate witnesses, they cannot always order immigration authorities to take a particular action. Judge Zanfardino points out that he can’t order ICE to do anything and can only encourage the agency to make its best efforts. But the girl’s attorney, Caryn Crosthwait, says her client wants to leave the country as soon as possible and rejects any proposal to extend the departure request. The ICE attorney asks for time to consider the recommendations. While ICE standards call for the agency to provide up to a 30-day supply of medications to people who are being deported, the advocate has recommended that ICE provide the girl with a 60-day supply. He doesn’t list them all in court, but he addresses one in particular. The judge notes that a letter from the girl’s child advocate, whom the government has previously appointed to look out for her best interests, supports her request to leave the United States, but with four recommendations. She takes a seat next to her attorney and puts her headphones on so that an interpreter can help her make sense of the proceedings. Dressed neatly in a lace-trimmed blouse with her hair pulled back, the girl stands up from the second row of seats and timidly makes her way toward the respondent’s table. She’s come to court today to try and deport herself from the United States.Ī 10-year-old girl is separated from her family at the border and enters U.S. What I do know is that, after all these years, she wants out. I wonder when she last got a hug from anyone who loves her. I wonder if she’s ever had a friend for more than a few months, if she’s gotten a real education, if she’s learned to speak English. She’s become a long-term resident of what’s supposed to be a short-term system. ![]() Since presenting herself at the border and seeking asylum in late 2013, she has been separated from her family, shuttled back and forth between shelters and foster homes across the United States, from Oregon to Massachusetts to Texas to Florida, and back to Texas and Oregon again, from what I’ve been able to piece together. immigration custody since she was 10 years old. On this cold afternoon in January, there is one girl in particular I’ve come here to see. ![]() The room feels prim, almost quaint, dissonant for a space in which each decision can mean the difference between life and death. Sometimes it’s the same attorney for several clients in a row. Each time, an attorney steps forward to represent them. Not one is here with an adult family member. Every 10 minutes or so, a new young client makes their way around the table, ready to face the full brunt of the U.S. At one table, an attorney representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement faces the judge. They sit in two long pews that line the back of the room, facing the elevated bench of the immigration judge.Ī massive Department of Justice seal towers over the bench, flanked by giant windows that allow a glimpse of the downtown skyline. ![]() On the fifth floor of the tall glass federal building in Portland, Oregon, the immigration court hums in hushed tones, an air of reverence coming from a dozen or so fidgety children and teenagers. ![]()
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