American Gateways v. Department of Justice: Challenging Trump’sTermination of the National Qualified Representative Program (NQRP)

Civil Action No. 25-01370 (AHA)

This lawsuit seeks to restore a critical national program that provided federal funding for legal representation for people deemed mentally incompetent who are detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On April 25, the Trump administration suddenly, and without explanation, terminated the nationwide provision of the National Qualified Representative Program (NQRP) in all but three states where it remains required by court order. The program, launched in 2013 by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security in response to class action litigation, provided counsel to people in immigration detention who had been found by an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals to be mentally incompetent and therefore unable to represent themselves in deportation proceedings. The cancellation came amid a slew of other Trump administration actions ending federal programs that provided access to counsel and due process for immigrants facing deportation.

About 200 people were receiving legal representation under the program when it was terminated. Immigrants and asylum seekers who are deemed mentally incompetent to represent themselves, often on account of severe mental illness or cognitive disability, face extraordinary obstacles in navigating the immigration system, even more so when they are locked in isolated ICE detention centers with limited or no access to mental health care or the outside world. Access to qualified counsel gives individuals a fighting chance to exercise their due process rights under U.S. immigration law and to present evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and participate in a fair hearing.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues that the termination of the nationwide NQRP unduly interferes with plaintiffs’ existing attorney-client relationships and violates the Administrative Procedure Act. The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP are co-counsel in the case.

The Plaintiffs

This case was filed on behalf of nine organizations that provided legal representation under NQRP: American Gateways, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Estrella del Paso, Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project, NIJC, Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, and the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.