The Trump administration ordered legal service providers working with unaccompanied migrant children to stop their work, according to a memo.
The recent move is part of a series of actions that have been taken to limit crucial support for immigrants in the United States. This time, the focus is on children and teenagers who arrived at the southern border without their parents.
On Tuesday, the Department of Interior issued an order to the Acacia Center for Justice, a nonprofit organization known for aiding nearly 26,000 unaccompanied children in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody.
ORR, which falls under the Health and Human Services Department, is charged with the care of unaccompanied migrant children.
Shaina Aber, the executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, expressed concerns about the decision, stating that suspending this program undermines due process, has a disproportionate impact on vulnerable children, and exposes children who have already faced significant trauma to further risk of harm or exploitation.
The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, which provides “Know Your Rights” presentations for children in government custody as well as other legal services, also condemned the move.
“Without the services the Florence Project provides through the Unaccompanied Children Program, children, no matter their age, will be forced to represent themselves in immigration court alone. This is an unprecedented attack on immigrant children,” said Roxana Avila-Cimpeanu, Florence Project deputy director, in a statement.
The stop-work order is unlikely to affect children who are already represented, but the abrupt cutting off of funding could force groups to downsize or close entirely.
Days after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, the Justice Department similarly told legal service providers to stop work intended to help support immigrants, stripping away critical access for people in detention trying to navigate the tangled US immigration system. That order was later rescinded without explanation.
