Current President Stops Legal Funds for Unaccompanied Child Immigrants
On Tuesday, the current Presidential administration on stopped support for legal representation in immigration court for children who enter the United States alone, a setback for those fighting deportation who can’t afford a lawyer.
The Acacia Center for Justice, a non-profit, non-governmental organization that supports and partners with a national network of human rights defenders who provide legal defense to immigrants at risk of detention or deportation. says it serves 26,000 migrant children under its federal contract. Acacia runs the legal aid program through a network of 85 organizations nationwide that represent children under 18.
The Interior Department gave no explanation for the stop-work order, telling the group only that it was done for “causes outside of your control” and should not be interpreted as a judgment of poor performance. The halt remains in effect until further notice.
People fighting deportation may hire attorneys at their own expense, but the government does not provide them. Groups that rely on federal support to represent children said the most vulnerable would suffer most under the decision to halt work on the $200 million contract.
The 26,000 children served includes around 4,000 children in California alone.
“Expecting a child to represent themself in immigration court absurd and deeply unjust,” said Christine Lin, director of training and technical assistance at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies with the University of California College of the Law.
“This means that children are expected to show up in court, as of tomorrow, on their own, with no legal counsel, and try to defend themselves from deportation in an adversarial system,” said Daniela Hernández Chong Cuy, a Pasadena-based civil rights attorney. “The system is expecting these kids to be able to explain to the court their reasons why they fear going back, file legal applications and legal papers, then translate these documents. These are children with literally no adults here in the United States. So they have nobody to refer to, to say, ‘Hey, can you help me find a private attorney?’ These are kids, literally," Hernández Chong Cuy added.
You can read more at "Trump administration halts legal representation for 26,000 immigrant children" at the Los Angeles Times.
