A federal judge is asking the Trump administration to produce more evidence that it’s maintaining a federally funded legal aid program for children facing immigration court alone.
The program was established by Congress almost two decades ago alongside federal anti-trafficking laws.
Under it, immigrant children receive Know Your Rights presentations in government custody, and attorneys to help file applications for asylum and other forms of relief.
But at the end of July, the Office of Refugee Resettlement — the federal agency in charge of unaccompanied children — severed its contract with the network of more than 80 groups providing that legal aid nationwide. A group called the U.S. Commission on Refugees and Immigrants, or USCRI, has now been tapped to do the work.
Roxana Avila-Cimpeanu is the deputy director of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project — a legal nonprofit that was part of the contract that ended in July and represents some 600 children in Arizona.
She says despite agreements with the Trump administration, USCRI attorneys aren’t representing children in immigration court.
“Across the country, we are seeing children being asked to go to court every 14-21 days alone. We are seeing children being ordered deported for not filing an asylum application by themselves in a short timeframe,” Avila-Cimpeanu said during a press conference with attorneys part of the network of organizations Wednesday.
In an evidentiary hearing that lasted nearly two hours Tuesday afternoon, Richard Debany, an official with the Office of Refugee Resettlement, told the court USCRI was still ramping up operations.
He said the group’s attorneys have participated in 1,600 hearings as a ‘Friend of Court’ since the beginning of August. He said a $20 million agreement with USCRI will provide direct representation, one of several cooperative agreements and contracts established since July 31.
“But that doesn’t mean that they’ve done anything. It just means that they’re literally showing up,” Avila-Cimpeanu said.
Someone operating in a Friend of Court capacity may advise the court on what language a child speaks or brief a child on what to expect in court — but can’t file motions or other legal documents on their behalf.
During an Aug. 29 virtual proceeding observed by KJZZ, an attorney with USCRI identified himself to the Phoenix immigration judge as a Friend of Court, but did not speak during several of the children’s hearings, even for those who were unrepresented.
Avila-Cimpeanu says none of the children who appeared in court in Arizona during August and this month were represented by USCRI.
Under the contract that ended July 31, legal aid groups say children were represented by 800 litigators nationwide and that the capacity is far less at USCRI. The group has 57 attorneys on staff, according to court filings, and plans to hire more.
District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin asked both parties to file more evidence with the court in briefs due later this month. The judge previously ruled to require the Trump administration to pay some $65 million in withheld funds to the previously contracted legal groups, and report back on how it planned to continue the children's program without them.
U.S. Health and Human Services, the parent agency of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, did not respond to questions about the hearing or the USCRI attorneys capacity.
-
Activists have spent the last 70 days camped around and inside a cottonwood tree right along the border in the tiny town of Lochiel. The tree was the last of an old grove estimated to be up to 250 years old. -
The relationship between Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller and the Board of Supervisors has been rocky since a legal fight started over Miller unilaterally signing up to work with ICE. -
The National Park Service has denied an activist group’s request to place water stations along the Arizona-Mexico border — marking the first time their permit has been denied in more than two decades. -
The Utah-based Management & Training Corporation, or MTC, operates several prisons and ICE facilities around the U.S. This Marana site is an old state prison that was run by MTC before Arizona severed that contract and shut it down in 2023. -
The association says immigrant workers account for more than 25% of the construction workforce. And the impact of immigration enforcement and workplace raids is felt across the board — with some markets reporting even workers with legal status not showing up due to ICE fears.
