By Karen Sloan, From The National Law Journal

The U.S. government should guarantee legal representation to unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, end expedited processing of those children and families, and begin recognizing gang violence as a basis for asylum claims.

Those are among recommendations Tuesday by Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and 13 Jesuit law schools following a study of efforts to represent asylum seekers from Central America.

“This partnership is a groundbreaking effort among Jesuit institutions rooted in the Catholic tradition of welcoming the stranger, to identify a call for significant changes in U.S. policies and practices toward migrants,” said Armando Borja, national director of the U.S. branch of Jesuit Refugee Services.

The number of asylum seekers arriving in the United States from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras spiked in 2014 as people fled gang violence and poverty. U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended 51,705 unaccompanied minors from all countries in fiscal year 2014, up from fewer than 4,000 in 2011, according to the Jesuit institutions’ report, “A Fair Chance at Due Process: Challenges in Legal Protection for Central American Asylum Seekers and Other Vulnerable Migrants.” Those arriving in family units rose from 14,855 in 2013 to 68,445 in 2014.

The organization and law schools launched the effort in March. All 13 of the law schools represent asylum seekers directly through clinics or pro bono work, or research the immigration process. But the schools can represent only a small fraction of people navigating the immigration courts—291 Central American migrants in 2014. They expect to represent 286 in 2015, according to the report. The schools are among the many public interest organizations and pro bono lawyers assisting Central American migrants.

The schools reported a number of challenges in representing those clients, not least the expedited adjudication process established in 2014 for children and families.

“Santa Clara University School of Law notes that it is crucial to take these cases off an expedited track, to allow legal counsel to prepare each case thoroughly, to obtain the supporting documents as needed and prepare their clients for hearings,” the report reads.

The cases often move too fast to train law students in immigration law, the report notes. Moreover, it’s not unusual for authorities to move clients across states, making it difficult for lawyers to communicate with them.

“Without access to a child advocate or other support systems, oftentimes a client’s legal counsel serves as their liaison to other much-needed services,” the report reads. For example, Boston College Law School reported that students and professors helped migrant children enroll in school.

The report urges federal lawmakers to increase resources and access to legal representation for unaccompanied minors and families seeking asylum and to minimize their transfers to allow continuity in their representation.

The report calls upon law schools and nongovernmental organizations to create a database of gang-based claims. Finally, it recommends an overhaul of the detention system.

“We urge the White House, Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to consider alternative measures to detention including supervised release, case management and community support programs that will serve to ensure court appearances and due process,” it says.

In addition to Boston College and Santa Clara, the participating law schools include Creighton University School of Law; University of Detroit Mercy School of Law; Fordham University School of Law; Georgetown University Law Center; Gonzaga University School of Law; Loyola Law School, Los Angeles; Loyola University Chicago School of Law; Loyola University New Orleans School of Law; Saint Louis University School of Law; and the University of San Francisco School of Law.

IMAGE: A woman and child are escorted to a van by detention facility guards inside the Artesia Family Residential Center, a federal detention facility for undocumented immigrant mothers and children in Artesia, N.M, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014. Photo: Juan Carlos LLorca/AP

For more on this story go to: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202729614638/Law-Schools-Give-Migrant-Children-Legal-Representation#ixzz3dKrzTeS2