Today, the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and other partner organizations, represented by Gibson Dunn, announced the filing of a federal lawsuit against the government for shutting down critical legal orientation programs for immigrants, including people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The lawsuit, filed against the Department of Justice (DOJ), Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and other defendants, challenges the government’s recently imposed stop-work order for legal access programs that have obliterated access to the most basic information for unrepresented noncitizens about their rights and obligations throughout removal proceedings.
Organizational plaintiffs in the suit include American Gateways, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Estrella del Paso, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, National Immigrant Justice Center, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, and Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.
The DOJ's decision to shut down these national legal access programs poses a significant threat to the rights of immigrant children, adults, and families, especially those detained by the government. These legal orientation programs are crucial, as they provide immigrants—the vast majority of whom are unrepresented, and many of whom are confused and traumatized, do not speak English, and lack any legal education—with essential information about their rights throughout the immigration process and deportation proceedings. Such programs have bipartisan support, and the oldest has been in place for over two decades.
The shut down is a direct result of the January 20, 2025, Executive Order, “Protecting the American People from Invasion,” which has paved the way for mass deportations. Without access to legal information and support, noncitizens face severe obstacles in navigating their immigration proceedings.
The lawsuit aims to restore immediate access to these essential programs, ensuring that people trapped in ICE detention receive the legal orientation and support that is their legal right.
Sam Hsieh, Deputy Program Direct of the Immigration Impact Lab, Amica Center, said:
“We are seeing the effects of Trump’s mass deportation plans across the country. While the threat of a mass detention camp in Guantanamo Bay is scary, the reality is that mass detention is already happening. Without these legal access programs, unrepresented immigrants in detention have lost their last lifeline and will be deported without the most basic due process protections—making this lawsuit all the more urgent.”
Adina Appelbaum, Program Director of the Immigration Impact Lab, Amica Center, said:
“Blocking legal service providers from accessing immigration jails means detention centers are now effectively unsanctioned black sites. Without these legal access programs, no legal service provider is able to see what the government is doing inside. It creates a dangerous environment where the government has unchecked power to operate mass detention and deportation without any accountability.”
Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director, National Immigrant Justice Center, said:
“Since 2016, the National Immigrant Justice Center has worked collaboratively and with the full support of judges and staff at the Chicago Immigration Court to provide basic legal services to people trying to follow the law and navigate our country’s complex immigration system. Those officials understood that our Immigration Court Helpdesk services helped reduce harm in a system where a shortage of legal services leaves people vulnerable to unjust deportation and family separation. Our staff helped people file forms and applications with the government and provided basic information about the immigration process and individuals’ rights and responsibilities. It is unconscionable that this administration has so brashly cut off this lifeline for people who are looking to follow our laws and build secure futures for themselves and their loved ones.”
Vanessa Gutierrez, Deputy Director, Northwest Immigrant Rights (NWIRP), said:
“NWIRP’s Legal Orientation Program (LOP) is integral to providing education to unrepresented individuals detained and facing removal proceedings at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, WA. Through LOPs across the country, many individuals have a better understanding of their immigration proceedings, receive assistance filling out applications for relief, and are better prepared for their hearings. These services are especially critical because the overwhelming majority of persons detained by ICE are unrepresented and have access to no other legal assistance. NWIRP’s ability to meet with detained individuals through its LOP team is a critical aspect of ensuring that those in detention receive the legal resources, representation, and rights they are entitled to, particularly when they may not otherwise have access to counsel.”
Laura St. John, Legal Director, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project said:
“Since our founding in 1989, the Florence Project has been providing legal education and support services to people in immigration detention. The Florence Project was the blueprint for the LOP, and we have provided basic yet critical legal education to people facing deportation under that program for more than two decades. Since its inception, the LOP has enjoyed bipartisan support because it has long been recognized to be an effective minimum requirement to safeguard due process for people in immigration detention while also helping the court process run more efficiently. Providing legal education and resources is a cornerstone of the Florence Project’s mission, and without the LOP and other legal access programs halted by this order, hundreds of thousands of immigrants across the United States will face the full force of the U.S. legal system with no information or resources at all, leading to disastrous outcomes. Shutting down these contracts while simultaneously mobilizing massive deportation operations throughout the country and expanding immigration detention is cruel and an enormous violation of people’s rights under the law.”
Mekela Goehring, Executive Director, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) said:
“Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network was one of the very first nonprofit providers in the country providing services under the Legal Orientation Program, beginning in 2003. Throughout the last 22 years, this program has provided critical legal information and orientation to thousands of individuals detained in Colorado and facing removal proceedings before the Aurora Immigration Court. Similarly, children, families and individuals before the Denver Immigration Court have benefited from RMIAN’s services through the Family Group Legal Orientation Program and the Immigration Court Help Desk Program. These programs provide a critical lifeline in court systems where currently there is no right to court-appointed counsel, even for children or those in detention. Without access to legal orientation, thousands of individuals in Colorado will be left to navigate complex and life-altering immigration proceedings alone, facing immense challenges without information about their legal rights and responsibilities. The abrupt halt of these programs is a threat to the rule of law and the due process and protection it provides us all.”