U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Issues Letter to DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review Questioning Deportation of Children Prior to Court Hearings

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Jul 27, 2015, 08:34 ET

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) asking whether news reports of deportations of thousands of immigrant children due to missing or late hearing notices are true, and if so, concluding that there is potentially a significant due process concern.

The Commission raised questions of EOIR, including evidentiary sufficiency, methods of sending notices to affected children, methods of ascertaining accuracy of addresses, coordination measures to assist unaccompanied minors, sufficiency of time allowed for responses, statistics concerning numbers of denials of asylum and of those awaiting hearings, and adherence to official methods of service of process and court procedure.

Chairman Castro stated, "If these reports are true, then this conduct is a gross denial by our government of due process to the most vulnerable of immigrants — children — and must be immediately rectified. This, on top of the prolonged detention of so many women and children awaiting hearings, makes illusory any promise of fair treatment to those families seeking refuge and protection from violence and instability in their home countries."

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency charged with advising the President and Congress on civil rights matters and issuing a federal civil rights enforcement report. For information about Commission's reports and meetings, visit http://www.usccr.gov.

Contact: Lenore Ostrowsky
Acting Chief, Public Affairs
(202) 376-8591

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SOURCE U.S. Commission on Civil Rights