Provides an analysis of legal standards used in the asylum process in the United States and their impact on unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Child asylum seekers should not be held to the same legal standard as adult asylum seekers. In the United States, a different legal standard has historically been applied to children in other areas of jurisprudence because of their vulnerable status as children, taking into consideration children’s physical, cognitive, and emotional development as well as their limited access to resources. Minor asylum seekers are also more susceptible to human rights violations. Nevertheless, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals requires child asylum seekers to meet the same legal standard as adults and fails to recognize the international standard of the ?best interests of the child? as requiring special treatment. Congress would have to amend immigration legislation in order to create a child-sensitive standard to be applied uniformly in cases involving child asylum seekers. (IP)
