This archive report was first published on 9 July 2019.
On a sweltering summer day in July 2019, I sat in a New York immigration court, surrounded by the sounds of toddlers crying and the rustling of orange jumpsuits. The scene was a stark reminder of the cruelty that immigrants face in the United States, a system of brutality that is often overlooked in the midst of border debates.
As I watched, immigrants were led into the courtroom, their wrists shackled to their waists, unable to sit comfortably or wipe their faces as they recounted the worst moments of their lives. This is not a new phenomenon, but rather a continuation of a long-standing practice that has been criticized by immigration advocates and judges alike.
According to Judge Ashley Tabaddor, the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, the quota system that has been imposed on immigration judges is a further representation of the improper use of the court as an extension of the law enforcement policies of the executive branch. With 700 cases to complete each year, judges are under immense pressure to move through the system quickly, often at the expense of due process and fairness.
As I left the courtroom, I couldn't help but think of the children who are being held in detention centers along the border, sleeping on concrete floors and going hungry. The cruelty of the system is not limited to the border, but is a pervasive problem that affects immigrants across the country.
As E.B. White once wrote, 'New York is peculiarly constructed to absorb almost anything that comes along.' But in the case of immigration court, the city's ability to absorb the spectacle of cruelty is not enough. We must choose to look at this system, to confront the brutality that is being perpetrated in our name, and to demand change.
Maeve Higgins is the author of 'Maeve in America: Essays by a Girl From Somewhere Else' and a contributing opinion writer.
