The Article I read says "Between 2014 and 2015, 49 percent of minors in immigration court had no legal aid, according to data compiled by the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Out of 84,174 juvenile cases filed in that period, a whopping 41,457 of those cases were unrepresented."
Manuel Portillo was afraid that he might get deported since he didn't have anyone to represent him pro bono. He had originally fled Salvador from gang violence when he was only 16 and came to the U.S.. One night on January he got stopped by a police officer and had to show up to court for not having a drivers license. At the court the judge told him he would have to go into the hands of immigration officers.
When he heard he wasn't going to get an attorney for his Asylum case He'd heard rumors that immigration officers would deport him if he showed up in court, so out of fear, he simply didn't go.
"We are talking about children running for their lives in many instances," one of the co-sponsors of the bill, Rep. Luis Guitierrez, said in a press release about the bill. "We need to make sure they have access to a lawyer, translator, and a fair chance to navigate the American legal system so that they can get justice if they qualify for asylum and are fighting deportation."
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