PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Sarah Nolan, Managing Director of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
3:36:57
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145 sec
Sarah Nolan, Managing Director of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), testified about the urgent need for increased funding and support for legal representation of unaccompanied immigrant children in New York City. She emphasized the critical role of legal counsel in securing positive outcomes for these children in immigration proceedings and highlighted KIND's holistic model of legal and social services.
- Nearly 4,000 unaccompanied children arrived in New York City last year to reunify with family members.
- Immigration judges are almost 100 times more likely to grant legal relief for unaccompanied children with legal counsel than those without.
- KIND provides both legal representation and social services coordination, including help with health insurance enrollment and access to therapy for trauma.
Sarah Nolan
3:36:57
Good morning.
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My name is Sarah Nolan.
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I'm the managing director of kids in need of defense or kind's New York office.
3:37:03
Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today.
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We're here also as members of the eye care coalition.
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Kind thanks city council for supporting eye care and providing a free legal representation to unaccompanied children.
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While the numbers of unaccompanied children arriving in New York continue to rise, the city support for eye care has remained at a standstill for several years.
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Increased funding is necessary to create a quality, ethical, and sustainable removal defense program for the unaccompanied children who are part of our community.
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New York City is a top destination for unaccompanied children.
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Last year alone almost 4000 came to reunify with their family members here.
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Almost all unaccompanied children are served with documents initiating or removal proceedings, the first step to reporting them back to unsafe situations.
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Most have humanitarian immigration relief available to them, but with no right to publicly fund the council in immigration court, the burden remains on them to obtain a legal representation and most cannot afford a private attorney.
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This has a real cost as we've heard today.
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Immigration judges are almost 100 times more likely to grant legal relief for unaccompanied children with legal counsel than those without.
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Kinds and model of holistic services provides this representation, and social services coordination to these children.
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And take the example of Patricia.
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When she was fifteen, a gang member in Honduras demanded she become his girlfriend or he would kill her entire family.
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She fled to the US to find safety.
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When she arrived, she was faced with the possibility of being deported back to Honduras.
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Kynn took on her case by representing her in removal and helping her apply for immigration relief.
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And addition, Kynn Social Services team helped her enroll in health insurance and connected her with therapist to help her cope with the trauma.
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Her application for legal status is granted, and her removal proceedings were dismissed.
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But Patricia needed the legal expertise of a state licensed attorney to represent her in family court and an attorney with immigration experience to understand the specific complex asylum and such proceedings and the removal of defense experience necessary to represent her in court.
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If not for an attorney, she would have faced an ICE attorney immigration judge, a family court judge, and asylum officer on her own.
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There remain, as we've heard today, thousands of children who do not have access to this kind of representation or case management support.
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We hope that after today, the collaboration with the cities and these other agencies here will result in the creation of the robust, well coordinated delivery system that these children deserve.
3:39:17
Thank you for your commitment to ensuring that all unaccompanied children in New York City can achieve their full potential.