Almost 100 kids as young as 4 face expedited immigration hearings in Chicago

As many children around Chicago prepare for trick-or-treating, about 100 vulnerable immigrant children, some as young as 4 years old, are on the docket in Chicago Immigration Court over the course of two days. Their attorneys said they ve never seen their cases scheduled so quickly and believe the federal government is trying to fast-track deportations. In a packed Chicago courtroom, Texas-based Immigration Judge Susanna Martinez appeared virtually Thursday via WebEx. I’m going to have to send you back to Mexico, she told a 15-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld and who is referred to here as Danny. The judge also gave Danny the option to self-deport. There s this pressure upon these children to take a voluntary departure, but it s almost like coercion because they don t fully understand the legal system, said Laura Smith, executive director of the Chicago-based Children s Legal Center. Smith, Danny s attorney, said he has another option: appeal. She pla