US Government, ICE Launch Legal Aid Program To Help Central American Migrants Get To Court

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that it will begin immigration raids targeting hundreds of undocumented families who have flocked to the United States since the beginning of 2014. Earlier this month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carried out operations in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas where more than 120 migrants were arrested. Now, the U.S. is encouraging Central American undocumented immigrants to show up in court via a new program launched by the Obama Administration.

Federal authorities announced the program Thursday in hopes that many migrants show up for their hearings in immigration court, where a judge will determine whether they should be allowed to stay in the country or deported. The objective of the new plan is to help some immigrant families find transportation, lawyers and low-cost housing through a contractor hired by ICE.

The plan, according to the Associated Press, will work as followed: "When immigrants show up for court, federal authorities can keep track of asylum cases to ensure those who lose return home. Advocates want immigrants to attend the hearings because they believe many of those arriving from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have a strong shot of winning asylum but must be in court to do so. Judges routinely issue deportation orders for those who don’t show."

ICE reports that those eligible for the program, which will cost $11 million a year, include pregnant women, nursing mothers and mothers who have a child with a mental illness. “We are looking at Central American mothers, predominantly heads of households, because that is what we’re seeing now as the biggest population to be served,” said Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, ICE’s deputy director for enforcement and removal, reports AP.

Those who pass an initial asylum screening in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Chicago and Miami can join the program as of Thursday.