Immigrant children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border are being ordered into court for their own deportation proceedings, some as young as three, according to lawyers from Texas, California and Washington.
Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of Immigrant Defenders Law Centre in Los Angeles, told the Texas Tribune that the children detained under the new "zero tolerance" policy must deal with court proceedings without their parents.
“We were representing a three-year-old in court recently who had been separated from the parents. And the child — in the middle of the hearing — started climbing up on the table. It really highlighted the absurdity of what we’re doing with these kids.”
US President Donald Trump last week signed an executive order to keep migrant families together after growing outrage over the previous policy to take children from their parents at the border.
Officials say they are working to reunify families as soon as possible, but have not said how long that would take.
The Texas Tribune reported that leaders at three legal services organisations and a private firm confirmed that children are being served with notices to appear in court.
Doctors have condemned the practice given the trauma children have already experienced from fleeing their homes and being separated from their mum or dad.
Dr Benard Dreyer, a paediatrician at New York University School of Medicine, told the Texas Tribune it was "unconscionable".
"It's certainly grossly inappropriate. I'm ashamed that we're doing this," he said.
