Each day, the Trump administration sends America further and further down a dark road. Horror stories about ICE thugs are so commonplace they’re now a sinister background hum of babies being snatched from their parents’ arms, random people disappeared from the streets, and innocent, screaming civilians being beaten.
But sometimes a story cuts through this miserable haze and makes you stop and wonder how we’ve gotten to this point. A report from Arizona newspaper The Copper Courier details how Trump’s focus on speeding up immigration hearings has meant many in court are appearing without legal representation.
As such, they must act as their own attorney and address the judge. That’s a terrifying prospect for anyone without legal training or experience, especially when your future is on the line. But, in a horrifying and sadistic twist, it appears that very young children are being asked to playact as lawyers before an immigration judge.
The report focuses on three-year-old Lucy, who “approached the lawyer’s table wearing a multi-colored and floral dress and bright red pants”. Lucy is barely old enough to talk, but was still expected to defend herself in court to Judge Feldman at the Pima County immigration courthouse in Tucson on Nov. 24.
Lucy couldn’t climb into the adult-sized chair on her own, so she was lifted into it and handed a teddy bear to calm her down. A representative from the nonprofit legal service Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project explained the situation to the judge, underlining that Lucy must represent herself in court as Trump diktats mean the group that would ordinarily act as her attorney no longer has federal funding and cannot take on new clients.
An insane situation
A three year old named Lucy had to go to immigration court alone.
— Kelly (@broadwaybabyto) December 9, 2025
A three year old.
No three year old child should be in ANY court alone, let alone as the “defendant”.
How is this not child abuse? Why is there no one to advocate for these children? https://t.co/g911v56AAZ
In a merciful twist, the judge adjourned Lucy’s case to March 2026 to give her more time to find a lawyer and potentially find an immigration sponsor or family member in the United States. Lucy’s actual parents have vanished, possibly into yet another ICE black hole camp, leaving her as an unaccompanied minor at the mercy of an uncaring bureaucracy.
Judge Feldman – who I can only imagine was horrified at the perverse situation of a three-year-old being expected to address him – ended the hearing by saying, “I hope Lucy gets to safety”.
Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project communications manager Greer Millard sums up the miserable situation:
“For unaccompanied immigrant children, the barriers are myriad, complex, and nearly insurmountable. There is virtually no mechanism for a child to find a pro-bono attorney on their own while detained, as they do not have the resources or ability to identify and call attorneys, and are actually limited as to who they can contact.”
Even if you’re as rabidly anti-immigration as it gets, surely nobody can support toddlers being expected to defend themselves in court. Lucy’s ultimate fate is unknowable, but at the very least she needs a competent adult to argue her case!
