Trump admin piping in teen immigration cases from shelters

The Associated Press has learned that the Trump administration wants to speed up legal proceedings for some of the record 13,000 migrant children in federal custody by using video hearings to stream testimony from detained youths into courtrooms.

The problem, some attorneys and judges say, is that technical glitches like bad audio, weak connections and pixelated screens are actually making it much harder for the teens in shelters to have a fair hearing. It can be challenging for judges to assess children’s credibility without eye-to-eye contact, they say. And it further obscures the cases, which legally are supposed to be public.

But authorities say the unannounced pilot program will save money and allows youths to appear before a judge more quickly.