In New Jersey, A Crisis of Legal Help for Unaccompanied Minors

Much of the focus over the past week has been on the U.S.-Mexico border, where federal agents have been separating children and parents crossing into the United States illegally. Many of those children are arriving in New York and being placed in foster care, and a few have arrived to New Jersey.

After much outcry, President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending the separation practice, but said the zero-tolerance policy will continue. It's still unclear what will happen to the children already detained. 

Meanwhile another group of immigrant children remains in limbo, the unaccompanied minors who've crossed the border on their own in recent years, many fleeing violence in Central America and Mexico. More than 7,000 of those unaccompanied minors have entered New Jersey since 2015, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

"Many of these children have grounds for ultimately being able to stay here lawfully," said Randi Mandelbaum, founding member of the New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children, which works to expand access to representation for unaccompanied children in New Jersey. 

The problem is that in order to get any sort or immigration relief,  those children have to navigate a complicated court system on their own, since most can't afford an attorney. Only about 15 percent of the minors get legal representation, mostly from lawyers working pro-bono, said Mandelbaum. 

Mandelbaum spoke to All Things Considered host Jami Floyd.