“Records just obtained under the Freedom of Information Act offer new insights about government policies governing the handling of the recent surge of unaccompanied children seeking entry into the U.S. As of the end of June 2014, the more than 100,000 case records obtained and analyzed by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) show that almost half (48%) of the children appearing in court to determine whether they should be sent back to their home countries had to appear alone without assistance of an attorney to help them present their case. Another key finding was that for about five out of ten of the cases where the children were represented by a lawyer, the Immigration Judge did not order their deportation but allowed them to remain in the Unites States. In a stark contrast, however, for juveniles without an attorney the records showed that only one out of ten were allowed to stay. For full details, including annual counts and outcomes, see the report here.”