Udall to DHS: Slow Down Deportation

It's pretty safe to say that the country is divided on how to handle millions of undocumented residents who live here, as Republican presidential candidates call for their deportations and Democratic contenders seek some sort of pathway to citizenship.

On Tuesday, New Mexico's Senator Tom Udall introduced legislation that would at a bare minimum ensure tens of thousands of migrant children receive adequate legal representation.

Called the Fair Day in Court for Kids Act, the bill, if it were to pass Congress, would slow down the deportations of unaccompanied minors, who hail from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, according to Udall's press office.

Right now, the Department of Homeland Security is "rushing" the deportations of many children who arrived in recent years, fleeing violence in their native countries.

The southeastern New Mexico city of Artesia had the distinction of housing some of them in a former military training ground in the southeastern part of the state. But that facility closed down a little under a year ago as the families were relocated to Texas.

While Santa Fe hasn't taken in as many children as larger cities across the country, school officials estimate there are a couple hundred unaccompanied minors here who were spared detention and were placed in homes in the city.

While their stay here is protected by a city policy that provides them sanctuary in the form of urging local cops not to collude with federal immigration officials, others across the country, including pockets of New Mexico, have not been so lucky. That led Udall to introduce his legislation, saying the children are "five times more likely" to be granted protected status.

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