Human Rights Watch filed an amicus brief in a federal appeals court accusing the U.S. government of denying migrant children the right to legal representation in immigration court where they faced deportation.

HRW Files Amicus Brief

On Monday, the non-for-profit issued a press release revealing that they have filed an amicus brief in the case of J.E.F.M. v Lynch, a class-action lawsuit on behalf of thousands of children facing deportation.

In the brief, HRW argued that U.S. officials failed to appoint lawyers to represent migrant children in deportation hearings. HRW said the government violated the children's basic rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Immigration and Nationality Act, which mandates a fair and full hearing before an immigration judge.

"Thousands of children in deportation hearings in the US must stand alone before government lawyers and judges, and try to make their case without a lawyer," said Clara Long, U.S. immigration researcher at Human Rights Watch, in the statement. "These hearings are incredibly complex and the consequence of losing is the potentially deadly threat of deportation."

DOJ Fast-Tracks Deportation Cases

According to HRW, the Department of Justice began "fast-tracking" deportation cases in immigration courts in 2014 following a surge in illegal border crossings by unaccompanied children. In many of these cases, children without an attorney were deported after just one hearing, said HRW.

"A system that requires a child to appear alone before an immigration judge poised to make a potentially life or death decision is neither fair nor just. Countries around the world recognize the need to provide legal counsel to children in this very vulnerable situation," said Risa Kaufman, executive director of the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, which served as counsel on the brief.

The amicus brief also argued that, because children lack the mental capacity to represent themselves in deportation proceedings, they must be appointed counsel to ensure due process. On the contrary, an immigration judge asserted in an October 2015 deposition that children as young as 3 could effectively represent themselves in immigration court and were capable of learning immigration law.

Children Fleeing Violence

The brief also noted a 2014 United Nations refugee agency study that found that many children migrating from Central American countries like El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were fleeing violence and deserved refugee status.

"US officials have recognized that many of the people leaving Central America are fleeing serious threats to their lives," said Elisa Solomon, an associate at Covington and Burling, LLP, a law firm that provide legal counsel on the brief. "Yet the US immigration system treats children who have arrived in the US as if their claims don't deserve full due process protection."

HRW urged Congress to pass a bill pending in the Senate that would require the government to appoint lawyers for unaccompanied children in addition to victims of abuse, torture or other violence.