NJ Spotlight News recently spent several days inside a courtroom.

Few Americans ever see one where young children are increasingly facing immigration judges without parents, without lawyers, and without understanding the system they've been thrust into.

In Newark's immigration court, a massive case backlog and ramped up enforcement under the Trump administration have created a tense and often heartbreaking environment, especially for unaccompanied minors.

Education and child welfare writer Hannah Griss visited the courthouse, observing the human stories hidden inside the immigration debate.

And she joins us now to share what she saw.

Hannah.

Good to see you.

I know you spent considerable time.

What struck you most about what you witnessed there?

Thanks, Bri.

I mean, a lot of the kids were very young and some of them were there without a parent or legal guardian with people who it seemed like they didn't know very well.

So having to face an immigration judge who's going to determine if you're allowed to stay in this country, stay with your family, be sent to a country where maybe you don't really consider home, maybe you don't feel safe there.

Facing that alone for these children seemed like it was very difficult.

What was the atmosphere like?

What was the mood that you could pick up from these young children?

Some as young as ten years old, from what you observed?

It was very somber, very serious.

You could feel a sense of fear in the air because people have been detained by immigration officers while they're following the legal procedures and going to their court hearings.

So you could be deported.

And you don't know what's going to happen to you.

So there's a little bit of fear and unease.

There was a young girl who you wrote about who showed up with an adult who was not a parent, not a legal guardian.

Can you tell us a little bit about that situation and what it says about the fear that these families are living with?

So the girl came to speak to the judge, and the judge asked, who is the woman that's with you?

And it was a little bit hard for the girl to parse out.

It was a friend of the mom who had put them in touch, because what was later revealed is that the mom herself is not in the country legally and was too scared to show up to immigration court with her daughter for fear of being deported.

And the judge said, I understand that fear, but it's unacceptable for you to send your daughter to face me alone who is also facing deportation.

And so the mom was actually standing or waiting somewhere outside of the courthouse and had not come in, but the chaperon went to go get the mom and bring her in.

And she ultimately reunited with her daughter and faced the judge and was warned, next time you really need to come with your daughter.

And this is all unfolding before you.

What's your sense?

Did it seem like this was somewhat routine for a day in immigration court with minors?

After speaking with some immigration attorneys, this is becoming increasingly common as the arrests have increased in courthouses across the country, including in Newark.

So has this fear.

And so some people are sending their kids with U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents because they can't guarantee that if they show up to court, they won't be deported.

Yeah.

Talk to me a little bit about this backlog that we mentioned.

How big is it and how does that affect families and their children's chances of being able to stay in the U.S.?

In the overall backlog in Newark, there's over 200,000 pending cases as of June, and that includes children and adults who are in removal proceedings and facing deportation.

There's New Jersey being one of the few states that offers free legal help for these families, for undocumented immigrants.

How well is the system able to keep up, then, when you have such a massive backlog and more cases waiting in the queue?

The system can't meet the demand that there is for attorneys.

And the program that we have in New Jersey focuses on unaccompanied children who crossed into the United States alone.

They're the priority, but other children are served as well.

But they can't all receive the legal services they need.

And if you have an attorney, your odds of getting relief and being able to stay in the country are much higher.

Do we have any idea Hannah how many of those children there are in the system?

Is there any accurate means of tracking that?

It's hard to track the number of children who are in removal proceedings because the tracking data changed in 2017 during Trump's first term as president and since then, a research center at Syracuse University that tracks all of the immigration data says that it's too faulty to really use this data to know how many kids are running through the system right now.

I mean, and we should know.

Right.

Another difficulty there is just how buttoned up these courtrooms are.

You couldn't bring a phone, camera, anything of that nature, right?

Yes.

There's not a clear public schedule shared online of when these hearings are happening.

So the first time I went, I sort of wandered in and asked, is there anything happening today in immigration court?

I was given permission to sit in, but you can't record.

You're not allowed to have any phones or computers in their turned on.

So I just had my notebook.

Hannah Gross, great reporting.

Really appreciate it.

You can read Hannah's story on this and all of her coverage on our website NJSpotlightNews.org.

Hannah, thanks for coming in.

Thanks for having me, Bri.