Trump administration reinstates funds for lawyers representing 26,000 children in immigration court
"This letter cancels the Stop Work Order issued Feb 18, 2025," said a memo to Acacia Center for Justice, which is contracted to administer the nationwide program.
The Department of Interior, which sent the letter, did not respond to a request for comment.
The program provides legal representation to about 26,000 children, some too young to read or speak. Many of those children survived abuse, persecution or trafficking and are in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
In California, the program represents about 4,000 children who don't have a legal guardian.
'We welcome the news," said Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice. "We will continue working alongside the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that these critical services upholding the basic due process rights of vulnerable children are fully restored and our partners in the legal field – legal lifelines safeguarding the rights and well-being of children seeking safety – can resume their work without future disruption or delay."
The decision came after supporters flooded Congress members with letters of support.
But advocates worry the program may eventually lose funding, as the administration continues to strip away support from immigrants in the country without status.
President Donald Trump signed Wednesday an executive order aimed at cutting off undocumented immigrants from any federal benefits. The order directs the Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Management and Budget to identify in the next 30 days federal funding that is spent on those here illegally.
While children in the immigration system do have the right to an attorney, they do not have the the right to a court-appointed one.
Acacia found that since 2017 about 57% of children with pending cases have legal representation, a figure that had dropped from previous years.
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sony hikes PlayStation 5 prices in US as tariff uncertainty weighs
(Reuters) -Sony will raise prices of its PlayStation 5 consoles in the United States by around $50 from Thursday, as the Japanese conglomerate navigates a slow recovery in the videogame market while U.S. tariffs threaten to raise costs. All three PlayStation 5 consoles will see a similar price hike, with the most expensive PS5 Pro version expected to cost $749.99, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday. The price changes come after U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on imports from global manufacturing hubs such as China and Japan, leading to fears of supply chain disruptions and high material costs. Sony had raised prices of its consoles in various European markets in April. Rival Xbox also hiked sticker prices of its consoles and accessories in the U.S., Europe, Australia and the UK a month later. Consoles were expected to be a major driver of videogame market growth this year due to the launch of premium titles such as Take-Two Interactive's "Grand Theft Auto VI" and Nintendo's Switch 2. But console price hikes and the delay of highly-anticipated "GTA VI" to next year have cast some doubt on the pace of growth in the industry. On Wednesday, Sony said there are no price changes for other markets and prices of PlayStation 5 accessories remain unchanged. Sign in to access your portfolio
CNN
10 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump administration expands ‘good moral character' requirement to become naturalized citizen
The Trump administration is expanding the requirement for immigrants who are hoping to become US citizens to display 'good moral character,' in a move that some immigration lawyers denounced as a troubling change that adds uncertainty to the naturalization process. US Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security that administers the country's legal immigration system, directed its officers in a memo last week to more heavily consider both positive and negative 'attributes or contributions' of people going through the naturalization process to become US citizens. The memo, which was sent to USCIS officers on Friday, requires them to take a more 'holistic approach in evaluating whether or not an alien seeking naturalization has affirmatively established that he or she has met their burden of establishing that they are worthy of assuming the rights and responsibilities of United States Citizenship.' The agency said in a statement that the new policy is intended to ensure its officers are accounting more heavily for an immigrant's positive attributes, rather than simply the 'absence of misconduct,' to reflect their character. 'U.S. citizenship is the gold standard of citizenship—it should only be offered to the world's best of the best,' USCIS spokesperson Matthew J. Tragesser said in a statement. The standard to show good moral character has long been part of the naturalization process in the US. But immigration attorneys told CNN that the memo is designed in a way that places additional burdens on people going through the process. Emily Ryo, a professor of law and sociology at Duke University whose research focuses on immigration, said the 'mandate is likely to introduce a great deal of uncertainty, unpredictability, and administrative burden.' 'What does it mean to require that a noncitizen 'affirmatively' establish that they are 'worthy' of US citizenship?' Ryo said in an email. 'What kind of documentation will noncitizens be required to provide to make this affirmative showing, and how exactly are the officials to weigh and verify such evidence?' Susan Ramos, an immigration attorney based in Arizona, described the policy change as 'troubling' and said it 'appears to effectively change the substantive requirements for naturalization without notice and comment, just by policy.' 'It creates a new subjective standard without providing the analysis that will be performed in adjudicating an application for naturalization,' Ramos said. 'For example, how much volunteer work is enough to tip the scales in favor of the applicant? Who decides that formula, and using what analysis? What will USCIS consider sufficient achievement for someone who doesn't work?' And because the directive is broadly written, it makes it more difficult to challenge an individual officer's decision on whether the character standard has been met, said Kathrin Mautino, a California-based immigration attorney. 'Generally, it will give individual officers more authority to ask about private lives,' Mautino said. But the memo does contain some more concrete and stringent requirements for potential new citizens. Previously, immigrants who owed overdue taxes were required to only show they were participating in a payment plan with the IRS to meet the character standard, Mautino said. But the new memo now requires the 'full payment' of overdue taxes, as well as other obligations including child-support payments. USCIS said in the memo this is to make sure immigrants 'who have engaged in wrongdoing are properly rehabilitated and reformed.' People who have multiple traffic tickets can now be found to lack good moral character, as well as people who engage in 'harassment or aggressive solicitation,' though it is not clear what the memo means by that. The updated policy is just one way the Trump administration is more heavily scrutinizing the lives of people applying for citizenship or for the right to live, work or study in the United States. In late May, the US State Department ordered embassies to pause visa interviews for international students so they could more heavily scrutinize students' social media. The pause was lifted after the State Department told embassies to screen for 'hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.' On Tuesday, USCIS announced that type of vetting will expand to seek out 'anti-American' attitudes in those seeking immigration-related benefits such as the right to live or work in the US.
New York Post
12 minutes ago
- New York Post
National Guard vehicle collides with civilian car, traps one person near US Capitol
WASHINGTON — A National Guard vehicle collided with a civilian car less than a mile from the U.S. Capitol on Thursday morning as troops continued to take up positions around the city during President Donald Trump's crackdown. One person was trapped inside the car after the accident and had to be extricated by emergency responders, according to D.C. fire department spokesman Vito Maggiolo. The person was transported to a hospital with minor injuries. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. A video posted online showed a tan-colored armored vehicle and a silver SUV with a crushed side. The military vehicle was twice the height of the civilian car. A National Guard vehicle collided with a civilian car near the US Capitol Thursday morning, trapping one person inside. AFP via Getty Images 'You come to our city and this is what you do? Seriously?' a woman yelled at the troops in the video. The driver was conscious and breathing, and the injuries were not considered life threatening, police said. The military vehicle was twice the height of the civilian car and the person trapped inside was later transported to a hospital with minor injuries. Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock An estimated 1,900 troops are being deployed in D.C. More than half are coming from Republican-led states that are responding to requests from Trump administration officials. Attorney General Pam Bondi said more than 550 people have been arrested so far, and the U.S. Marshals are offering $500 rewards for information leading to additional arrests. 'Together, we will make DC safe again!' Bondi wrote on social media.
