Today the Department of the Interior issued a stop work order immediately suspending legal services for immigrant children assisted through the Acacia Center for Justice’s Unaccompanied Children Program. For over 10 years, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) has provided technical assistance and training to legal services providers representing unaccompanied children through this vital program, which protects the safety and due process rights of children seeking asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief.
Congress has already appropriated funds for the Unaccompanied Children Program to ensure compliance with the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), which establishes procedures to protect unaccompanied children from trafficking and abuse. The Trump administration’s decision to abruptly suspend the program is both cruel and completely unlawful.
Christine Lin, CGRS Director of Training and Technical Assistance, shared the following comment today:
“Children navigating the immigration system are highly vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and due process violations. Expecting a child to represent themself in immigration court is absurd and deeply unjust. For years the Unaccompanied Children Program has ensured that immigrant and refugee children have a meaningful opportunity to present their claims for protection, while helping the immigration court system run more smoothly. Through access to counsel, the program has prevented the unlawful deportation of refugee children to countries where they would have faced persecution and torture. For the nearly 26,000 children currently represented, the fate of this program could mean the difference between life or death. We urge the government to immediately restore the Unaccompanied Children Program, in adherence to anti-trafficking laws, and ensure that vulnerable children are treated with dignity and fairness.”