“What is this 2-year-old client supposed to do without her attorney?”
Daniella Hernandez, California immigration attorney who provides free legal services to 60 children in Pasadena.
Trump’s latest act in his endeavor to strip key resources from immigrants in the United States has targeted children, specifically unaccompanied minors. His administration has given a stop-work order to organizations providing federally funded legal representation to children who arrived in the United States unaccompanied. Days after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, the Justice Department ordered legal service providers to stop their work supporting immigrants, an order which was later rescinded without explanation. Now the administration has ordered an abrupt and complete stop to all federally contracted services for unaccompanied minors, including those for children who are currently in government custody, remaining unexplained and in effect until further notice.
Unsurprisingly this stop-work order leaves many children, some too young to even speak, in a very vulnerable position. According to the Associated Press, attorneys and experts have said that children will be stuck in the system or off the grid, and cases won’t be processed. Trump’s officials have stated that “drastic changes are necessary to protect migrant children from exploitation and trafficking,” though this is patently absurd, as unaccompanied children without legal representation are clearly at much greater risk of exploitation and trafficking.
Immigrants are not guaranteed the right to free legal representation that U.S. citizens have under U.S. law, although they can hire private attorneys. However, the law also charges the Department of Health and Human Services with the responsibility of housing unaccompanied immigrant children who enter the United States without legal authorization until they become legal adults or can be placed with a sponsor, typically a relative in the U.S. A former ICE official has been installed as the head of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which falls under the department of health and human services and is charged with the care of unaccompanied immigrant children.
Be very careful!
Beware of notaries, immigration consultants or anyone who is not qualified and prepared in these matters. Always seek the advice and services of an immigration attorney for your immigration processes and procedures.