Latest news with #AcaciaCenterforJustice
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California must fund legal aid for immigrant children facing deportation
California has long stood as a progressive stalwart in the United States. During the first Trump administration, our communities and elected officials rallied together to put forth a progressive agenda that was equal parts unifying and galvanizing. However, the state's response to Trump 2.0 may jettison critical opportunities to support the legal protection and due process needs of vulnerable communities and fail to meet the urgency of the moment. This includes failing to rally around populations that are being targeted by the new administration, including unaccompanied immigrant children whose legal support is in jeopardy following devastating funding cuts at the federal level. The Acacia Center for Justice has developed and supported various programs that ensure unaccompanied children have access to needed legal and social services. In California, we partnered with the state to pilot the Children's Holistic Immigration Representation Project (CHIRP), which provides holistic legal advocacy for unaccompanied children at risk of deportation, with an emphasis on trauma-informed intervention to ensure that unaccompanied minors have legal services and appropriate wrap-around support. Opinion Despite the success of the model, it has yet to receive permanent support from the state of California. This means it will run out of funding on June 30. CHIRP's uncertain future has been exacerbated by the fact that the new federal administration terminated existing funding allocated to support immigrant children in California, leaving thousands of children on their own in the middle of their deportation proceedings. In the wake of this crisis, we hope the California legislature and governor recognize this as an opportunity to exercise critical leadership to protect thousands of children across our communities. Several offices are meeting the moment to address some of the most pressing challenges our communities face. In February, Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, introduced Assembly Bill 1261, a bill that seeks to codify the right to counsel for unaccompanied children. This bill is an important step in the right direction, but it must be paired with an investment in existing programs serving unaccompanied children like CHIRP. Without a committed investment, this well-meaning effort will fall far short of accomplishing its goal of protecting vulnerable children forced to face a judicial process on their own. For years, the California Department of Social Services has invested in programs like CHIRP to develop a patchwork of safety and support and set the groundwork for a right to counsel for unaccompanied children. Ensuring that CHIRP gets the support it deserves is essential to making sure the promise of a right to counsel for children can become a reality. Without funding, that 7-year old boy sitting on the wooden bench in the courtroom, waiting for his case to be called, will have to continue to defend himself in immigration court without an advocate by his side. Protecting due process for these children presents an important opportunity to showcase leadership and strategic vision that would galvanize an exhausted and disillusioned base working to protect their communities from frightening enforcement efforts. California can draw an important line in the sand about what values we seek to uphold, and how we can stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable members of our state. Unfortunately, Gov. Gavin Newsom's May Revise failed to include a much-needed increase in funding for immigration legal services. However, the opportunity remains for the legislature to exercise this leadership by ensuring that programs like CHIRP have the funding they need to continue, and that there is a sustainable plan to provide legal support for unaccompanied children and all vulnerable individuals at risk of deportation. This investment will not only pay off for the state of California and its residents, it will also give California lawmakers and our communities a much needed win. Shaina Aber is executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice.
17-05-2025
- Politics
Families separated by Trump's 'zero-tolerance' policy at risk due to lapse in legal services, ACLU argues
Hundreds of parents and children separated under the "zero-tolerance" border policy during President Donald Trump's first term -- who were later reunited and protected by a 2023 settlement -- are at risk of being separated again due to a lapse in legal services, lawyers argue. Under the 2023 court-approved settlement agreement, reached as a result of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2018, the federal government agreed to provide certain services to an estimated 5,000 people -- families and children separated under the 2017-2018 "zero tolerance" policy -- including behavioral health services and immigration legal services. However, the ACLU says a recent decision made by the Trump administration to gut and then abruptly terminate a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice violates that agreement, leaving hundreds of migrants in legal limbo. The nonprofit organization is the main contractor that oversees services provided to separated families, such as helping them apply for parole and other benefits they're "mandated" to receive at the government's expense, the American Civil Liberties Union argues. An estimated 414 migrants who are eligible for benefits are at risk of deportation because their legal status is set to expire by the end of the month if they don't receive the help Acacia was offering them, ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt argued during a federal court hearing Friday in the Southern District of California. "If they don't have parole, they're subject to arrest, deportation and re-separation," Gelernt said during the hearing. The Trump administration argues that it wants to provide those services on its own -- through the Executive Office for Immigration Review's Helpdesk, "or a separate similar program" and that it is not prohibited by the 2023 agreement from doing so. An attorney representing the Trump administration said they had already emailed more than 52,000 individuals on their list of pro bono providers to see if they could represent some of the people covered under the settlement. As of May 15, however, only 71 had "expressed interest," so far, according to documents submitted in court. "On the record before the court now there's not enough to show a breach, and I can understand why the court is directing the parties to provide more information," the government attorney said. "But again, right now, it is speculation and as the government noted in its response to the plaintiff's motion, they have not provided one class member who has been deprived of services required under the settlement. So again, I think we're getting way ahead by speculating on things that may or may not happen." Gelernt countered by saying even if those 71 providers eventually offer to help, it's not enough to deal with the thousands of cases that are now in limbo because of Acacia's absence. "We spent two years working through this and the government understood that the only way to do this and provide people real, meaningful help was this structure," Gelernt said, referring to the years of negotiation leading to the 2023 settlement. "This can't be a sort of sideshow for the government. They'll get to it when they get to it. Acacia woke up every morning with all its subcontractors, and all day long, worked on this as a full-time matter with their subcontractors." Judge Dana Makoto Sabraw set another hearing for May 30 and asked both sides to provide additional information about what services the government could reasonably provide. "If Mr. Gelernt is correct in his assessment, in his understanding of the full landscape of these class members, the services they need, the services that were provided by Acacia, in his view, that there's simply no way in the real world that 71 or a few more volunteer pro bono attorneys can pick up this caseload that Acacia was addressing, that, too, could lead to a finding of breach of the settlement agreement. But I need additional evidence in order to make those determinations," the judge said. Gelernt said that if the government now seeks to provide these services, affected class members may not trust them enough to reach out. "I don't know whether people will reach out to the government, because it's the same government, obviously, that separated them," he said.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Separated immigrant families will soon get new lawyers — from Trump's DOJ
Immigrant families separated during President Donald Trump's first term, once a potent symbol of harsh government overreach, are facing new legal obstacles from an emboldened second-term Trump administration. It's an unusual predicament: The same administration that has been trying to deport them is now trying to take over the responsibility for guiding them through complex legal proceedings in immigration court. The Justice Department says it's about efficiency. Advocates and independent lawyers who have worked with the families call it an obvious conflict of interest. The issue will come to a head in a hearing scheduled Friday. The latest clash stems from a 2023 court-approved settlement aimed at supporting the families separated by Trump's immigration policies in 2017 and 2018. The settlement required the administration to provide a wide range of benefits, including government-funded legal services. Until May 1, the families had been receiving legal support from outside groups, led by the Acacia Center for Justice, a nonprofit immigrant legal defense organization. These independent lawyers have helped them navigate the byzantine process of reunifying, applying for temporary legal status and deciphering immigration court — until the Justice Department abruptly declined to renew the contract with Acacia. That decision to move the legal services in-house has left advocates for these separated families alarmed, baffled and warning of an inherent conflict. Not only was the cutoff of Acacia's services abrupt, they say, the administration provided no roadmap for how it will take over the legal cases for up to 8,000 people, some of whom are facing urgent court deadlines and imminent deportation or separation once again. This time, the world isn't watching. Their cases once drew intense national attention and visits from Democratic presidential contenders. But that has subsided as Trump's second-term immigration agenda — including deportations to El Salvador's mega prison and a slew of other legal battles — has overtaken interest in their plight. Advocates worry the diminishing attention will have real-world consequences for families as they attempt to resist new deportation efforts. 'Haven't we put these families through enough?' said Anilú Chadwick, the pro bono director at Together & Free, a group that has worked with separated families. 'I'm taken back to seven years ago when I was holding babies and trying to find their parents. It's just unbelievable.' A DOJ official said in a statement to POLITICO that it's 'insulting to suggest' that the department's immigration office, 'which is comprised of neutral, trained professionals and experts in immigration law, cannot provide services more effectively and efficiently than a self-interested, third-party outside contractor.' The separated families' right to legal aid stems from a 2023 legal settlement overseen by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw. The Southern California-based appointee of George W. Bush approved an agreement requiring the federal government provide a range of services for parents and children separated by the Trump administration in 2017 and 2018, from medical care to housing support. The government also had to help the families work toward reunification and temporary legal status in the U.S., as well as provide legal services to help them navigate the complicated paperwork required to gain temporary legal status and access benefit programs. The settlement required those services to be 'adequately resourced and funded.' The Trump administration contends there has been no lapse in legal services and that replacing the contractors' outside lawyers with its own in-house services satisfies the requirement of the settlement. Justice Department lawyers said the settlement also 'does not require Defendants to provide legal services through the same method for the term of the agreement.' DOJ lawyers also said in court filings that its Executive Office for Immigration Review would provide legal services to 'maximize efficiency' — adding that by May 15, it would 'begin providing regularly scheduled group sessions and self-help workshops' to 'equip them with the knowledge and information to successfully navigate their immigration proceedings.' The department intends to lean on other contractors employed by the departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security to fill in other gaps in services. In addition, DOJ's immigration office 'will leverage its existing pro bono network,' to connect 'interested class members with pro bono representatives to provide representation,' the lawyers wrote. Advocates say this puts separated and reunified families in an impossible position: taking legal advice from the very government they are litigating against to obtain benefits. A Tuesday court filing from American Civil Liberties Union lawyers identified 187 class members who could lose their humanitarian parole status and work permits in May, 113 in June and another 142 in July. Advocates are also tracking 114 class members who have active removal orders and who 'urgently need access to legal services to file motions to reopen and dismiss their proceedings.' The immigrant families 'are being told that they have to go to the government, who harmed them and who is going to be adjudicating their cases, for confidential advice about what to do,' said Sara Van Hofwegen, managing director of legal access programs at Acacia. 'There is immediate harm this week and next week, and in the months to come.' Sabraw, so far, is not crying foul. The judge said the concerns about inadequate representation by the government are speculative, and he could intervene in the future if there is evidence that families protected by the settlement are suddenly missing court deadlines or facing other hurdles due to the change in their legal services. He has called a hearing Friday to further air concerns about this new arrangement. Acacia's contract with the Justice Department, which began in May 2024, formed the Legal Access Services for Reunified Families program. The organization has overseen the program since, distributing the funding to subcontractor organizations across the country who have managed thousands of individual cases. Acacia was in active talks to renew the contract with the Trump administration earlier this year, and staff members were stunned by the DOJ's decision, Van Hofwegen said. 'We're having to have conversations letting people know that we will no longer be a provider without being able to tell them about an existing plan,' said Emma Wilson, the program manager at ISLA Immigration, one of the subcontractors that provided legal services under the contract. In court filings, advocates say they are already aware of class members who have been detained, including a separated child and multiple separated parents who have been unable to access legal services. They warn that these families could turn to predatory attorneys charging high fees in return for incomplete, sloppy paperwork. 'All of this is happening at a time of extraordinary immigration enforcement,' said Kelly Kribs, an attorney and co-director of the technical assistance program for the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, a group that has worked with hundreds of separated families since Trump's zero tolerance policy. 'These class members … are very much at risk of detention and potential deportation.'
Politico
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Separated immigrant families will soon get new lawyers — from Trump's DOJ
Immigrant families separated during President Donald Trump's first term, once a potent symbol of harsh government overreach, are facing new legal obstacles from an emboldened second-term Trump administration. It's an unusual predicament: The same administration that has been trying to deport them is now trying to take over the responsibility for guiding them through complex legal proceedings in immigration court. The Justice Department says it's about efficiency. Advocates and independent lawyers who have worked with the families call it an obvious conflict of interest. The issue will come to a head in a hearing scheduled Friday. The latest clash stems from a 2023 court-approved settlement aimed at supporting the families separated by Trump's immigration policies in 2017 and 2018. The settlement required the administration to provide a wide range of benefits, including government-funded legal services. Until May 1, the families had been receiving legal support from outside groups, led by the Acacia Center for Justice, a nonprofit immigrant legal defense organization. These independent lawyers have helped them navigate the byzantine process of reunifying, applying for temporary legal status and deciphering immigration court — until the Justice Department abruptly declined to renew the contract with Acacia. That decision to move the legal services in-house has left advocates for these separated families alarmed, baffled and warning of an inherent conflict. Not only was the cutoff of Acacia's services abrupt, they say, the administration provided no roadmap for how it will take over the legal cases for up to 8,000 people, some of whom are facing urgent court deadlines and imminent deportation or separation once again. This time, the world isn't watching. Their cases once drew intense national attention and visits from Democratic presidential contenders. But that has subsided as Trump's second-term immigration agenda — including deportations to El Salvador's mega prison and a slew of other legal battles — has overtaken interest in their plight. Advocates worry the diminishing attention will have real-world consequences for families as they attempt to resist new deportation efforts. 'Haven't we put these families through enough?' said Anilú Chadwick, the pro bono director at Together & Free, a group that has worked with separated families. 'I'm taken back to seven years ago when I was holding babies and trying to find their parents. It's just unbelievable.' A DOJ official said in a statement to POLITICO that it's 'insulting to suggest' that the department's immigration office, 'which is comprised of neutral, trained professionals and experts in immigration law, cannot provide services more effectively and efficiently than a self-interested, third-party outside contractor.' The separated families' right to legal aid stems from a 2023 legal settlement overseen by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw. The Southern California-based appointee of George W. Bush approved an agreement requiring the federal government provide a range of services for parents and children separated by the Trump administration in 2017 and 2018, from medical care to housing support. The government also had to help the families work toward reunification and temporary legal status in the U.S., as well as provide legal services to help them navigate the complicated paperwork required to gain temporary legal status and access benefit programs. The settlement required those services to be 'adequately resourced and funded.' The Trump administration contends there has been no lapse in legal services and that replacing the contractors' outside lawyers with its own in-house services satisfies the requirement of the settlement. Justice Department lawyers said the settlement also 'does not require Defendants to provide legal services through the same method for the term of the agreement.' DOJ lawyers also said in court filings that its Executive Office for Immigration Review would provide legal services to 'maximize efficiency' — adding that by May 15, it would 'begin providing regularly scheduled group sessions and self-help workshops' to 'equip them with the knowledge and information to successfully navigate their immigration proceedings.' The department intends to lean on other contractors employed by the departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security to fill in other gaps in services. In addition, DOJ's immigration office 'will leverage its existing pro bono network,' to connect 'interested class members with pro bono representatives to provide representation,' the lawyers wrote. Advocates say this puts separated and reunified families in an impossible position: taking legal advice from the very government they are litigating against to obtain benefits. A Tuesday court filing from American Civil Liberties Union lawyers identified 187 class members who could lose their humanitarian parole status and work permits in May, 113 in June and another 142 in July. Advocates are also tracking 114 class members who have active removal orders and who 'urgently need access to legal services to file motions to reopen and dismiss their proceedings.' The immigrant families 'are being told that they have to go to the government, who harmed them and who is going to be adjudicating their cases, for confidential advice about what to do,' said Sara Van Hofwegen, managing director of legal access programs at Acacia. 'There is immediate harm this week and next week, and in the months to come.' Sabraw, so far, is not crying foul. The judge said the concerns about inadequate representation by the government are speculative, and he could intervene in the future if there is evidence that families protected by the settlement are suddenly missing court deadlines or facing other hurdles due to the change in their legal services. He has called a hearing Friday to further air concerns about this new arrangement. Acacia's contract with the Justice Department, which began in May 2024, formed the Legal Access Services for Reunified Families program. The organization has overseen the program since, distributing the funding to subcontractor organizations across the country who have managed thousands of individual cases. Acacia was in active talks to renew the contract with the Trump administration earlier this year, and staff members were stunned by the DOJ's decision, Van Hofwegen said. 'We're having to have conversations letting people know that we will no longer be a provider without being able to tell them about an existing plan,' said Emma Wilson, the program manager at ISLA Immigration, one of the subcontractors that provided legal services under the contract. In court filings, advocates say they are already aware of class members who have been detained, including a separated child and multiple separated parents who have been unable to access legal services. They warn that these families could turn to predatory attorneys charging high fees in return for incomplete, sloppy paperwork. 'All of this is happening at a time of extraordinary immigration enforcement,' said Kelly Kribs, an attorney and co-director of the technical assistance program for the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, a group that has worked with hundreds of separated families since Trump's zero tolerance policy. 'These class members … are very much at risk of detention and potential deportation.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge orders continued funding for migrant children's lawyers
A federal judge in Northern California on Tuesday extended her April injunction ordering the Trump administration to restore legal aid to unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. It blocks a stop-work order issued to the Acacia Center for Justice by the Department of Interior months prior. The center uses congressional funds to pay subcontractors who provide representation to minors who are accused of entering the country illegally, free of charge. Eleven subcontractor groups for the Acacia Center sued the Trump administration over the abrupt end to publicly funded representation for thousands of migrant children. Acacia Center did not join the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, a Biden appointee, agreed with the plaintiffs, argument that ending their work would violate the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), which requires federal entities to prevent and combat the exploitation of unaccompanied children through affirmed legal representation to the 'greatest extent practicable.' Acacia's Unaccompanied Children Program provides legal services to more than 26,000 children who are in or have been released from the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to its executive director, Shaina Aber. Aber said the program protects children from human trafficking, helps immigration courts run more smoothly and ensures 'a modicum of due process, so that children navigating the immigration system alone understand their rights and legal obligations.' The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment on the order. The move comes as immigration activists have protested the removal of a 2-year-old U.S. citizen, along with their immigrant mother, without 'meaningful process.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
