Children seeking asylum trapped in legal limbo

It’s hard to imagine the gravity of threats to a child that would force parents to send one off alone to seek protection in another country, but that’s what happens thousands of times a year as unaccompanied minors approach the U.S. border to reach out for asylum.

Laws dating to 1952 and 1980 lay out a process to follow for immigrants seeking asylum. But a rapid-fire series of executive actions since President Trump took office have trampled on those laws in efforts to nearly stop the asylum process, trapping children in a limbo south of the U.S. border.

Now a devastating cluster of provisions in a budget bill passed by the House and sent to the Senate would require these children to pay thousands of dollars in fees they don’t have for each step of the process, eliminate measures to prevent child trafficking, and prohibit children with no sense of our legal system from obtaining lawyers to guide them through the process and protect them from trafficking and other dangers. If we are humane, then we must rise up and demand an end to executive actions and bill provisions that target children.

Applying for asylum is entirely legal. It starts with a person presenting at the border to U.S. customs officials and then charges a contingent of processing coordinators with “bringing a humanitarian approach to the care of people in custody” under authority of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

A telling example of what’s important these days is a provision of the budget relating to CBP’s bulked-up funding. The bill lists a whopping $105.6 billion in new projects and support for construction and personnel training. But the bill specifically mandates that “none of the funds made available may be used to recruit, hire or train personnel for the duties of processing coordinators.”

John Morrissey, Mount Prospect

Sarah Tipperreiter, Palatine

Liz Gallichio, Des Plaines