Washington, D.C. – Twelve immigrant rights organizations have filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in response to a ruling that upheld the Trump administration’s decision to terminate nationwide Know Your Rights legal orientation programs for unrepresented immigrants.
On July 6, 2025, the District Court denied the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction (PI) and granted partial summary judgment in favor of the government. This ruling allows the government to terminate essential legal access programs, which significantly threatens the rights of immigrant children, adults, and families, especially those detained by the government.
This decision represents a massive setback for many people in immigration proceedings. The government can now discontinue programs that have provided a basic level of due process for decades. These legal orientation programs are vital as they help unrepresented immigrants—many of whom are confused, traumatized, non-English speakers, and lack legal education—understand their rights and obligations throughout the immigration and deportation processes. Importantly, these programs have received bipartisan support and have been in place for over twenty years through congressional appropriations.
National Immigrant Justice Center Director of Policy Azadeh Erfani offered the following statement:
“We are in the midst of a historic era of executive overreach, resulting in the arbitrary and inhumane abduction and disappearances of long-time neighbors and people in need of lifesaving protection. The Legal Orientation Program, Immigration Court Helpdesks, and related programs provide a pivotal backstop to the administration’s terror campaign against immigrant communities. The Trump administration hopes we look away while they cut off these lifeline programs. We cannot stay silent as they dismantle every semblance of due process protection. NIJC joins this appeal because the fight to access to basic information and legal services is ultimately a fight for a fair day in court.”
During a May 14 hearing, the government claimed it would continue to offer some legal access programs, but through the government rather than through nonprofit legal aid organizations. However, the government only mentioned two means of executing these programs: the existence of already available self-help information online, which immigrants who are detained cannot access, and having immigration judges provide basic advice about people’s rights, which is already required and deeply insufficient in the backlogged immigration courts by statute. These minimal approaches, provided by the same agency ordering immigrants deported, cannot replace the comprehensive support offered by non-governmental legal professionals from nonprofit organizations.
Plaintiffs in the suit include American Bar Association, American Gateways, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Estrella del Paso, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Immigration Center for Women and Children, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, National Immigrant Justice Center, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, and Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.
By appealing this decision, the plaintiffs aim to restore these essential programs. This is crucial to ensuring that people facing immigration proceedings have the necessary information to understand and assert their legal rights.