Today, the Trump administration issued a new notice instructing federally funded legal service providers to immediately cease providing representation to unaccompanied children. This follows a similar attempt in February, again disrupting services for 26,000 children nationwide, including 500 children served by the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC).
NIJC Executive Director Mary Meg McCarthy responded with the following statement:
“The Trump administration wants to send children alone to court to face Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorneys who will advocate for their deportation. 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.
“NIJC’s attorneys have been an important line of defense to safeguard children from exploitation and trafficking, and ensure they connect with essential services as they exercise their rights to protection under U.S. law. Our legal team still represents children separated from their parents under Trump’s first administration. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has made cruelty towards children their signature policy. Since he returned to office, he has upended decades of child welfare and asylum laws to shut down protection at the U.S.-Mexico border, and terrorized children and their family members nationwide. 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. NIJC will fight back in court, in Congress, and beyond.”