NBC Bay Area: San Francisco Lawyers File Lawsuit on Behalf of Undocumented Children Seeking Asylum

Original broadcast can be seen here.

By Damian Trujillo

San Francisco lawyers are taking the U.S. government to court over the issue of unaccompanied minors and demanding a level playing field before the government decides who can stay in this country and who will be deported.

Some attorneys argue the government is violating the due process clause of the constitution when dealing with unaccompanied minors — children seeking asylum from violence and poverty in their Latin American home countries.

“Most of these people are seeking asylum because they’re fleeing difficult situations,” said Carol Bisharat with the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights of San Francisco.

The group alleges the federal government is rushing cases through the court system without giving the children adequate time to prepare their arguments as to why they cannot go back home.

Top