New York Public Advocate Trish James visited immigration court this week for the screening of refugee children from Central America.

"Since the docket began last Wednesday, I understand 81 children have been seen in the last few days, and most of the children are from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. What I saw of the court system was that it was overwhelmed. The children were there with their guardians, their parents, lined up against the wall in a couple of court rooms. The system is just not equipped to deal with this increased volume. About half of the children do not have legal representation," James told Latin Post, after her visit to Immigration Court at 26 Federal Plaza.

James said there were a number of attorneys there providing assistance from groups like Catholic Charities, the Door, Legal Aid Society, and Safe Passage.  

James said she also sat in an orientation for the children and their parents about "the criteria for applying for a visa ... including and not limited to religious persecution, violence, and political asylum. We desperately need more lawyers, and we also need additional funding for these organizations to expand services offered to these unaccompanied minors. What I also saw was children sitting at court desks, their feet dangling from chairs, playing with crayons, with no idea of the serious nature of the proceedings." 

Last week those organizations joined with James to launch the Immigration Task Force, which will be run out of the Advocate's office to help partners recruit and train pro-bono attorneys to serve at the juvenile surge docket in Immigration Court. James offered her services as an attorney pro-bono "to ensure that all children are protected from violence, abuse and exploitation, regardless of their status."

Jose Perez, Deputy General Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, also attended the launch.

"America is in the middle of a huge humanity crisis," Perez said. "At the border, Latino families are being detained in unprecedented numbers, with the federal government sometimes opposing their release claiming national security grounds. The Justice Department Executive Office of Immigration Review for some unknown reason is rushing to speed up deportation hearings against Latino children who are being detained at the border by implementing an ill-guided expedited immigration removal process being referred to as a 'rocket dockets.' Why are Latino children...being singled out for 'special treatment'?"