More than a dozen nonprofit legal organizations have sued the federal government to reinstate a legal services program that provides attorneys and other assistance for thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children.
The White House cut $200 million from the Unaccompanied Children Program, leaving more than 26,000 unattended minors to represent themselves in the immigration court system, experts say.
“The Trump administration’s decision to terminate these national legal service programs poses a significant threat to the rights of already vulnerable unaccompanied immigrant children,” said Sam Hsieh, an attorney with Amica Center, a group that represents unaccompanied minors and a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
“Many of these children are eligible for immigration relief but are unable to meaningfully seek it without an attorney. This is the most brazen attack on immigrant children since family separation,” he declared.
“This is the most brazen attack on immigrant children since family separation.”
The action filed March 26 in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California names the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Department of the Interior as defendants because all three had roles in administering grants for the program.
In the complaint, the groups argue in part that it is absurd to think children as young as 1 year old can be expected to file petitions and answer questions from judges and government attorneys during removal proceedings.
“These children, including babies and toddlers, arrived in the United States without a parent or legal guardian. The vast majority do not speak English; the babies do not speak at all. Most do not have the means to hire a lawyer.”
Recognizing the need, Congress passed the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. The law requires the federal government to ensure unaccompanied immigrant children are provided legal representation and are protected from trafficking, exploitation and other forms of mistreatment. In addition, a 2024 federal rule directs the federal government to “fund legal service providers to provide direct immigration legal representation” for migrant youth, the suit explains.
Cancelation of the program “will cause chaos throughout the immigration legal system” and for unaccompanied minors who have pending court dates.
“By subverting Congress’ funding of counsel for unaccompanied children, defendants ensure more children will remain separated from their families, fewer trafficking victims will be identified and protected, and more children will be at risk of being trafficked in the future.”
The immediate consequences include children not filing for the relief for which they are eligible and being rushed through removal proceedings without understanding their situations.
“Immigration judges will be left to carry the burden, on their own, to expend limited government resources to educate child respondents (some only a few months old) on arcane immigration law and apply the law to their cases, without a full understanding of the reasons the children left their countries or the realities facing their removal. This will cause immigration judges to spend more time on cases for unaccompanied children at a time when the immigration court backlog is already at an all-time high,” the plaintiffs explain.
Alvaro Huerta
It’s bad enough that unaccompanied immigrant children endured violence and extreme poverty in their home countries and enroute to the U.S. without forcing them through the court system alone, said Alvaro Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy with Immigrant Defenders Law Center, another of the plaintiff organizations.
“The federal government should not be compounding the harm already done to these kids by preventing legal service providers from doing their jobs. What kind of system do we have when our government is more willing to pay an attorney to deport a child than it is to provide the same child with an attorney whose job is to protect their rights? That is fundamentally wrong, and it certainly is not justice.”
Denying legal assistance for migrant children caught in the court system goes well beyond unfair, said Esther Sung, legal director for the Justice Action Center, another plaintiff in the case.
“The Trump administration’s move to make children and babies face an adversarial immigration system alone is amoral and illegal.”
“Kids should be treated like kids. The Trump administration’s move to make children and babies face an adversarial immigration system alone is amoral and illegal.”
Human rights groups condemned the administration action as well, citing the cruelty of leaving terrified children without parents, guardians or attorneys to fend for themselves in immigration courtrooms.
Meredith Fortin
“No child should be forced to represent themselves in court — especially young children who have been subject to violence, abuse and exploitation,” said Meredith Fortin, director of asylum and legal services at Church World Service.
“This termination is an affront to our nation’s longstanding commitment to justice and equality, denying vulnerable children in U.S. custody with a basic right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution,” she said.
The group Kids In Need of Defense blasted the revoking of funds as “unconscionable” and urged Congress to take action to restore the Unaccompanied Children Program.
Wendy Young
“The administration’s devastating decision to strip vital legal services away from unaccompanied children runs counter to its stated desire to protect kids, some as young as toddlers, against trafficking, exploitation, and other abuses that make them easy prey for those who would do them harm,” KIND President Wendy Young said.
The administration’s first move came Feb. 18 when the U.S. Department of the Interior issued a stop-work order to legal groups that provide federally funded legal services to thousands of migrant children. While the order was rescinded Feb. 21, providers remain concerned the annual contract for funding would not be renewed by an end-of-month deadline.
A few days later, Reuters reported on a recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo detailing how unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S. are to be tracked and sorted for eventual deportation.
The latest decision from the Trump administration codifies the earlier actions.
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Trump takes away legal representation for unaccompanied minor immigrants
Now Trump administration is targeting immigrant children