SACRAMENTO, CA – In an article published Wednesday by The Sacramento Bee, reporter Stephen Hobbs recounted a moment in Sacramento Immigration Court involving an 11-year-old boy and Judge Loreto Geisse.
The boy, one of several minors who had entered the U.S. without a parent or guardian, “held his head in his hands” as his grandmother explained they couldn’t afford a lawyer and had been waitlisted by a church group overwhelmed with similar immigration cases.
According to The Sacramento Bee, the boy’s grandmother, speaking through a Spanish interpreter, told Judge Geisse that he “may look uninterested” because “sometimes the boy gets sad and fearful.”
Judge Geisse sought to reassure the child, telling him, “Don’t be scared… The government cannot remove you until I tell them they can,” The Sacramento Bee reports.
The boy, who arrived in the U.S. as a child, was the 12th and final young person to appear before Judge Geisse on May 7, 2025. All of the children and young adults seen that day had been taken into custody by immigration authorities before turning 18, unaccompanied by a parent or guardian, and were considered unlawfully present in the country, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Federal law allows these minors to advocate for themselves in removal proceedings, as it does not guarantee them legal representation. The Sacramento Bee notes that none of the youth who appeared before Judge Geisse that day had an attorney.
In 2008, Congress passed a law stating that the federal government must, “to the greatest extent practicable,” ensure all unaccompanied immigrant children have lawyers to represent them in court. However, in March, the Trump administration informed the organization overseeing legal aid for these children that it would stop paying for those services, The Sacramento Bee reports.
Although a California federal judge has since ordered the government to continue funding legal aid while the legal challenge proceeds, many children remain without lawyers and are forced to represent themselves in complex legal proceedings.
As a result, judges like Geisse are often left to explain the intricacies of immigration law to children and the adults accompanying them. According to The Sacramento Bee, judges must ensure that both the court and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are notified if a young person changes addresses, whether asylum paperwork is submitted correctly, and that failing to appear in court could result in removal from the country.
Judge Geisse stressed the urgency of obtaining legal counsel as soon as possible, The Sacramento Bee notes.
In one scene described by The Sacramento Bee, a 7-year-old child sat at a courtroom bench, yawning and idly kicking his feet, which didn’t reach the floor. A volunteer from NorCal Resist, a local activist organization, accompanied him and took notes on the judge’s remarks to send to the child’s sponsor.
In February, Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D–Oakland) introduced Assembly Bill 1261, which would require California to fund organizations that provide legal representation for all unaccompanied immigrant children in the state. A legislative staff analysis estimates the bill would cost more than $37 million annually, and it currently awaits a key vote in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
“At a minimum, we should be able to provide support and legal representation to our children that are unaccompanied minors,” Bonta told The Sacramento Bee.
In another courtroom exchange, Judge Geisse noticed a 10-year-old boy wearing a maroon and yellow scarf and asked if he was a Harry Potter fan. The boy confirmed that he was. Geisse then turned to the matter of legal representation, noting that the boy had been without a lawyer for two years. According to The Sacramento Bee, the boy’s stepfather explained that they had been bounced between organizations, each referring them elsewhere.
The stepfather added that they had finally secured a lawyer and were scheduled to meet in May. Judge Geisse responded approvingly: “It is very difficult to find a lawyer these days. You’re lucky to even find an appointment,” The Sacramento Bee reports.
