Aid groups that provide legal services to immigrant children alone in the U.S. say the government has failed to pay them since December.
A congressionally approved federal program has for years provided funding for a handful of legal groups representing immigrant kids in Arizona and elsewhere.
The Trump administration ended that program in the spring of last year, and legal groups sued to stop that effort, citing a U.S. trafficking law that requires the government to ensure unaccompanied children receive counsel in immigration court proceedings.
A court order ruling in their favor restarted the federal funding soon after. But attorneys say despite the order, the groups haven’t been paid at all so far this year.
Esther Sung is the legal director of the Justice Action Center, one of the groups behind the suit.
“They’re looking at furloughs, or laying off staff, and also trying to find other representation for these kids because they don’t have the funding to keep providing services,” she said. “Basically the plaintiff organizations have been providing legal services, sending out their attorneys to meet with kids and to represent them in federal court without getting a single cent from the federal government.”
Sung says the groups brought the case back to court this month after negotiations with the government failed. In a hearing this week, District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín gave parties seven days to confer with each other and provide more evidence for the court.
The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment about the case, but in court filings, government attorneys argue funding is being held back only while billing details from the groups are verified.
-
The Florence Project says they’ll continue to represent the migrant children as long as they can. And, the groups that could be getting those contracts instead are raising eyebrows. -
Appointed by George W. Bush, Judge Richard Leon in D.C. ruled last week that granting an injunction is “unwarranted” — writing he expects the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will “follow through on its guarantees of consultation.” -
Humane Borders maintains water stations in Arizona’s vast desert borderland and also works with the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office to document migrant deaths. -
The tool, originally reported by Axios, uses data from a July spending report that shows Congress or other federal agencies have put more than $268 billion in federal funds toward powering the Trump administration’s deportation agenda until 2029. -
Andrés Manuel López Beltrán says the revocation of his U.S. visa was politically motivated.
