Inside the New York court where children face deportation without access to attorneys

About 20,000 unaccompanied minors will lose legal representation if the federal government ends a longstanding contract on Friday, kicking current problems into overdrive across US

Inside an immigration court in lower Manhattan, the faces of migrant children – some as young as three – have been beamed on to a video screen throughout the summer as they faced deportation hearings. Most appeared virtually. Some sat around desks in a classroom, others bounced on bunk beds or rocked in chairs inside small offices or storage closets.

Detained in nearby shelters for unaccompanied minors in New York, the vast majority did not have lawyers as they appeared before the court.