DelBene: Unaccompanied Children Deserve Due Process

Press Release

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today joined colleagues in introducing the Fair Day in Court for Kids Act. The legislation would provide legal counsel to unaccompanied minors and people with disabilities during deportation proceedings.

"Clearly, there is a humanitarian crisis at our southern border that needs to be addressed, but the current state of our broken immigration system is only exacerbating the situation," DelBene said. "To detain children and people with disabilities, and then force them to navigate deportation proceedings without any representation or knowledge of their rights is simply unacceptable. This bill ensures these kids are afforded due process, and it helps alleviate our backlogged system so we can start addressing the larger issue of comprehensive immigration reform."

Recently, the United States has experienced an influx of unaccompanied minors seeking refuge from dangerous situations in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

DelBene has consistently called on Congress to fix the broken immigration system by passing comprehensive immigration reform. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, DelBene helped lead efforts to pass a broadly supported, bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill, H.R. 15, during the 113th Congress.

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