While national immigration policy remains in limbo, San Francisco is about to take an historic step toward accommodating the estimated 4,000 undocumented minors who reside here, by drafting new legislation designed to help them navigate the court system.
District 3 Supervisor David Chiu has announced plans for a program that will allocate $100,000 this year to the nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, which will provide legal representation pro bono to undocumented children.
Only 10 percent of the children who appeared in immigration court without a lawyer were able to stay in the United States the San Francisco Chronicle reported. But 50 percent of children with legal representation are able to stay.
The program is an expansion of 2012 legislation that was designed to provide lawyers to defendants in civil cases who can’t afford their own counsel. It will be the first such program of its kind in California.