Credible fears: Central American women seek asylum
Last year, the U.S. took thousands of "family units" into custody at the southern border. Nearly every woman cites violence as the reason she fled.
WAITING: An unidentified Guatemalan woman is seen inside a dormitory in the Artesia family residential center, a federal detention facility for undocumented immigrant mothers and children in Artesia, New Mexico. The center was closed in December. AP PHOTO / Juan Carlos Llorca
A tiny girl about ten years old, with a ponytail and gold loop earrings, was sitting in the defendant’s chair in Judge Mimi Tsankov’s Denver courtroom. Tsankov is a U.S. immigration judge in one of the nation’s 59 immigration courts.
“How does the defendant plead?” Judge Tsankov asked.
The child’s lawyer answered for her: “The defendant concedes the one charge, Your Honor.”
