More than 24,000 immigrant children could lose legal representation as a federal contract expires
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Set us as preferred More than 24,000 immigrant children who arrived in the U.S.without a parent or guardian and are facing deportation could lose access to legal representation this week when a federal contract funding nonprofit legal services expires, leaving some organizations to scale back or end assistance altogether.The cuts are compounded by the Trump administration’s refusal to reimburse the nonprofits roughly $65 million for legal services they have already provided to unaccompanied migrant children — payments the organizations argue they are entitled to under federal law.
The expiration of the contract on Friday, legal providers said, will affect about 90 organizations nationwide, including several in California.Lindsay Toczylowski, chief executive director and co-founder of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, which serves 13 facilities in Greater Los Angeles, said during a Wednesday news conference that more than 1,500 unaccompanied children that her organization represents will be affected.Toczylowski said other organizations in the L.A.area that will be affected include the Public Counsel, Central American Resource Center and the Immigration Center for Women and Children.
World & Nation Sen.Ron Wyden said he had ‘credible information’ the Trump administration had a list of more than 500 migrant children for fast-track removal and was racing to act in days.“I’m thinking of clients I personally have represented over the years — trafficking victims, asylum seekers, children separated from their parents — and wondering what chance kids like them will have if no one is there to fight for them,” she said.
“Lawyers are often the only independent witnesses in the immigration system....
[They] have been the ones to uncover abuse, document unlawful conditions, expose government failures, and ensure...