Legal services for unaccompanied migrant children still uncertain after judge orders reinstatement

Chicago Tribune

03-04-2025

SAN FRANCISCO — Legal aid clinics that sued the Trump administration after it canceled legal services for migrant children alone in the country say they are still in limbo a day after a federal judge in California ordered the reinstatement of direct legal assistance.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of San Francisco ruled late Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by legal aid groups after the Department of Health and Human Services and its Office of Refugee Resettlement on March 21 terminated a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice.
She wrote that advocates raised legitimate questions about whether the U.S. violated a 2008 anti-trafficking law when it canceled funding for direct legal representation without ensuring the provision of counsel prior to the cancellation, warranting a return to the status quo while the case continues. The order took effect Wednesday and runs through April 16.
'The Court additionally finds that the continued funding of legal representation for unaccompanied children promotes efficiency and fairness within the immigration system,' she wrote.
But aid providers said Wednesday they are not sure if they can expect federal dollars to begin flowing again.
The Acacia center provides legal services for unaccompanied migrant children under 18 through a network of legal aid groups that subcontract with the center. Eleven subcontractor groups sued, saying that 26,000 children were at risk of losing their attorneys and that the government has an obligation to come up with a plan for transferring pending cases.
Acacia is not a party to the lawsuit, but Bilal Askaryar, a spokesperson, said Wednesday that it has received no notice from the government on what to do next.
'We're still stuck in this impossible situation where the attorneys that work with these vulnerable kids have no clarity,' he said.
Alvaro M. Huerta, an attorney with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said they are waiting to hear from the government on how it intends to comply with the order. Meanwhile, legal aid providers do not know if they can rehire staff or take on new clients, he said.
'Many organizations continue to represent children in court given their ethical and professional obligations, even without getting government funding to do so,' he said.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 created special protections for migrant children who cannot navigate a complex immigration system on their own. Plaintiffs said some of their clients are too young to speak and others are too traumatized and do not know English.
The law requires the government to ensure 'to the greatest extent practicable' that all children entering the country alone have legal counsel to represent them in proceedings and to 'protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.'
Attorneys for the government say that taxpayers have no obligation to pay the cost of direct legal aid to migrant children at a time when the government is trying to save money. They also said district courts have no jurisdiction over a contract termination that would have expired at the end of March.
Acacia is still under contract with the government to provide legal orientations, including 'know your rights' clinics, which Jonathan Ross with the U.S. Department of Justice said at a court hearing Tuesday is legally required.
'They're still free to provide those services on a pro bono basis,' he said of the legal aid clinics.
But Karen Tumlin with the Justice Action Center said at the same hearing that the administration cannot simply zero out funding without providing direction on who will help these children when Congress has appropriated money for the care of unaccompanied minors.
'They need to make sure to the greatest extent practicable that there is a plan,' she said.
The temporary order by Martínez-Olguín, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, prohibits the government from withdrawing services or funds Congress had appropriated for such children.
The legal services contract, which was set to expire unless renewed in March, was worth $200 million, which is a fraction of the overall $5 billion Congress appropriated for overall unaccompanied migrant children services, including housing or shelter.
The Department of Health and Human Services said in an email it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
This is the third legal setback in less than a week for the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, though all may prove temporary as the lawsuits advance.
On Friday, a federal judge in Boston said people with final deportation orders must have a 'meaningful opportunity ' to argue against being sent to a country other than their own. On Monday, another federal judge in San Francisco put on hold plans to end protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans. __ This story has been updated to clarify that legal aid for minors is a $200 million piece of $5 billion appropriated by Congress to assist unaccompanied children and to correct that Acacia is under a modified contract with the federal government, not a new contract.
Originally Published: April 3, 2025 at 12:12 PM CDT