The Los Angeles Times reports that gang violence in Central America has led to a rapid increase in the number of children who cross the Mexican border in search of asylum in the United States. According to a report by the Women's Refugee Commission, the number of unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. detention centers has grown nearly 50% in only 9 months. Most of the growth has come from three countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Federal statistics showed that the number of children crossing the border to the U.S. has risen 68% in El Salvador, 72% in Guatemala and more than doubled in Honduras. In interviews with more than 151 children in detention centers, nearly 80% of the children said that violence was the main reason they set out for the United States. Unfortunately, most of the young immigrants will end up going back to the countries they fled since many asylum cases based on the threat of gang violence have been difficult to win. "It's all dependent on getting an experienced lawyer," says Judy London, directing attorney of the Immigrants' Rights Project. "The vast majority aren't going to get the legal representation they need, or they're going to get it too late."

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/16/local/la-me-immigration-children-20121016

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The Associated Press reports that the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action suit in federal court on behalf of hundreds of immigrants in detention in New Jersey. Michael Tran, a San Francisco-based attorney with ACLU's Immigrant Rights Project says the lawsuit is seeking to give immigrants relief from mandatory detention if they have a legitimate argument that they're not being detained for a deportable offense and pose no danger or flight risk. The suit cites as an example 59 year old Jamaican national Garfield Gayle, a U.S. green card holder who works as a union carpenter in Brooklyn. Gayle has lived in the U.S. for 30 years and has two daughters who are U.S. citizens. He has been in immigration detention in New Jersey for eight months while facing deportation for a decades-old attempted drug sale charge. Tan said there are hundreds of immigrants like Gayle who are stuck in detention on non-violent or minor offenses that might not warrant deportation.

http://online.wsj.com/article/APbd889381ec1c47af8d5a92ef5b63e791.html

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