Competency in Immigration Court Proceedings

Hi, everyone! As we work on our mammoth task of coming up with immigration reform, one item to include is the very important issue of competency. Right now, there are no formal mechanisms in the immigration court for a judge to declare someone incompetent and possibly appoint a guardian. Yesterday, for instance, a distraught mother called me at the clinic because her developmentally delayed son was picked up by ICE taken to Georgia and deported to Mexico. There are many more cases like this one, and we should think of how to protect these individuals and ensure that they are properly represented in court.