Appleseed Pursues Justice for Immigrants

Appleseed Testimony on Immigration Court Reform

Appleseed, Texas Appleseed and Chicago Appleseed submitted testimony to the May 18, 2011 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “Improving Efficiency and Ensuring Justice in the Immigration Court System.”  As described in the testimony, EOIR has made some important strides in improving the fairness, efficiency and accuracy of immigration courts. EOIR has also made those courts more accessible and fair to immigrants with mental disabilities. Still, much work needs to be done to fulfill the promise of a fair system of justice. Appleseed looks forward to working with EOIR and the Committee to improve our immigration courts. The testimony was based on three Appleseed reports discussing the functioning of the immigration court system: “Assembly Line Injustice,” chronicling and proposing solutions to problems in the immigration court system; “Immigration’s Hidden Population” (), examining the treatment of immigrants with mental disabilities; and “Children at the Border,” documenting DHS’s failure to properly screen unaccompanied minors at the border.

Appleseed Op-Ed on Unaccompanied Minors

“The U.S. needs to protect children at the border,” a recent op-ed written by Appleseed board member and Akin Gump Pro Bono Partner Steven Schulman, describes the dangers faced by unaccompanied Mexican children at the border and the federal government’s failure to screen unaccompanied minors as required by the Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). The op-ed, which appeared in the May 18, 2011 edition of The Hill, highlights the findings and recommendations in Appleseed’s “Children at the Border” report, which previously was highligted on ImmigrationProf.

KJ