A federal court in Seattle Monday granted class-action status to a lawsuit challenging the practice of placing immigrant children in deportation proceedings without access to legal representation. The class action designation covers all immigrant children in the ninth federal court circuit. That’s the largest circuit in the country, incorporating Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, as well as two island territories. It’s also the circuit with the highest concentration of immigration court cases.
Matt Adams, legal director of Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, is co-counsel on the federal court case J.E.F.M. v. Lynch, currently before federal district court in Seattle, Washington. He gave us a bit of history on this case, and how its effects could be felt in New Mexico and throughout the US.