Children. What we do with them is a sign of who we are as a society, and there is no more telling indication than what we do with immigrant children, those who have come across the border because they could not survive in their own countries, sometimes due to mistreatment or abuse, sometimes due to poverty beyond our wildest imaginations.
They end up in immigration court Newark has the fourth highest backlog of cases, behind New York, Miami, and Chicago. Of course, most cases are not for children alone without parents, but thousands are. And there are not enough attorneys who provide low-cost or free legal services. I know because I am one of them.
Most of us low-cost attorneys work 12-hour days eight days a week. We vet the kids to make sure they qualify under the special program set by Congress in 2008, which the new regime is trying to gut. Protections by Congress are being ignored, and judges and government attorneys are under pressure to issue deportation orders, even to children. What does this say about us as a society? Not much.
Prayer for the Day
Called to be your witnesses, we are often silent,
Turning our heads, claiming we did not know;
Called to share your freedom, we make excuses,
Saying we cannot share it with everyone.
Forgive our frailty, our fear, and our weaknesses,
Transforming our words into action
In the name of the Transformer of our lives, `
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Of the 276,886 people involved in immigration court proceedings in New Jersey from October 1997 to June 2025, only 125,556 were represented by lawyers.
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than how it treats its children.
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
If we don’t stand up for children, then we don’t stand for much.
Marian Wright Edelman, founder Children’s Defense Fund
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matt. 19:14