Federal Administration Cuts Legal Aid To Unaccompanied Minors In Immigration Court

In matters of immigration, having a lawyer representing you in court is often the difference between remaining in the United States and deportation. A lawyer can inform migrants of their options, rights, and guide them through complicated legal proceedings. But for children who entered the country without an adult or legal status, this process has now become even more difficult.

On March 22, the Trump administration issued a memorandum ordering more than 100 nonprofits that provide legal aid and representation to unaccompanied minors through government grants to cease their work. The contract that allowed them to provide legal aid to 26,000 children, which the New York Times reports was up for renewal at the end of the month, was partially terminated.

This is the second attempt to cut the grants and comes swiftly on the heels of Trump ordering ICE to redouble its efforts in targeting migrant children (and the sponsor families who house them, often undocumented themselves) for deportation.

Every year, tens of thousands of minors enter the United States without a parent/guardian or legal status. These children, ranging in age from 2 to 17, are largely from Central America and are fleeing violent crime — including gang violence and recruitment — poverty, persecution, violence, and/or abuse.

While the Constitution entitles anyone, regardless of legal status, to an attorney in criminal proceedings, because immigration court is considered a civil matter, no such right is ensured, leaving children — including children as young as preschool age — in the position of representing themselves in court. Moreover, immigration courts are under the jurisdiction of the executive branch’s Department of Justice rather than the judicial branch, meaning the tenor of these courts can change considerably depending on who is in office and the leanings of the attorney general.

Access to legal aid also helps unaccompanied children work through the courts at all. The American Immigration Council notes that 95% of children represented by lawyers appear in court as scheduled as opposed to just 33% of those without. Missing a court date is grounds for deportation, putting these children at increased risk of trafficking and violence upon their return to their country of origin.

Children who enter the United States without appropriate documentation and legal status do have options to remain in the country legally. They can claim asylum, claim special immigrant juvenile status, and/or protection as victims of trafficking. But not only do they have to know how to prove their cases (abandonment or neglect; refugee status; or trafficking) they have to know these special protections even exist.

U.S. immigration courts are currently experiencing a tremendous backlog of 3 million cases, which are heard by a mere 700 judges across 71 courts across the country and its territories. Cases can take years, during which time supporting evidence can become increasingly difficult to substantiate and the children, many of whom made traumatizing and perilous journeys to find safety and family in the United States, establish roots and prospects in their new homes.

In a statement posted on the National Immigrant Justice Center website, Executive Director Meg McCarthy said: “This should disturb all of us, including members of Congress across the political spectrum. In no other area of law would a child face such grievous stakes without legal representation by their side. The outcome is all but certain: Trump wants these children to be deported by any means necessary, trampling a range of statutory, regulatory, and constitutional protections.”

She continues, “Our legal team still represents children separated from their parents under Trump’s first administration. ... This termination of legal services shows that no one is exempt from Trump’s mass deportation agenda, even children who will face trafficking, persecution, or abuse.”