“More than a month after federal Immigration Court began holding a daily surge docket to speed deportations of undocumented Central American children, New York City Council and two charitable organizations have announced a $1.9 million program to fund lawyers for minors who would otherwise go unrepresented […]

The Safe Passage Project, which just hired another staff attorney, will use the added funding to train and provide advice to pro bono lawyers representing unaccompanied immigrant youth. The group has trained more than 800 since July, said director Lenni Benson, a professor at New York Law School.

“On one hand, we are building capacity within the legal community,” Benson said. “On the other, if the federal government ever does fund this work, there will already be tons of qualified lawyers who are able to do it.”

The added funding will allow Safe Passage to hire a social worker, she said.”

Article by Tania Karas