California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris is looking to provide illegal immigrants who are flooding across the border with lawyers, which will ensure they get better treatment than Americans who are not guaranteed representation in civil cases.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Harris “convened a group of public and private officials to look at how legal representatives can be provided to the thousands of minors who are crossing the border illegally into the United States.”
The roundtable discussion at the Department of Justice office in Los Angeles reportedly had representatives from top corporations and law firms and, according to the Times, “agreed to Harris’ request to form a working group to monitor the situation and make sure resources are available.”
David Beltran, a spokesman for the attorney general, said on Wednesday that the “working group will work to ensure that these children receive due process under existing immigration law.”
According to the Times, “Harris convened the meeting just days before she and other state attorneys general are scheduled to meet in Park City, Utah, with the attorneys general for Mexico and El Salvador.”
There have been at least 57,000 illegal immigrant children who have unlawfully entered the country since October of last year, and federal officials expect at least 150,000 more to enter in the next fiscal year. The Obama administration has granted $2 million to provide illegal immigrant children with lawyers at their hearings and has requested at least $15 million more to provide more representation. Democrats like Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have insisted that every illegal immigrant child get taxpayer-funded legal representation.
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