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More than 25,000 children lose previous legal protections, as federal contract ends
NPR • • nation
Key Points:
- Approximately 26,000 unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. custody risk losing independent legal representation starting Monday due to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) halting payments to legal service providers.
- ORR stopped funding legal services after lawyers refused to share confidential, attorney-client privileged information about the children, leading to the non-renewal of contracts with nearly 100 legal groups that had provided these services for over two decades.
- Without legal representation, unaccompanied children have less than a 1% chance of winning the right to remain in the U.S., increasing the likelihood of deportation to potentially dangerous situations.
- Legal nonprofits have filed a lawsuit seeking $65 million owed by the government and continued funding, but some providers have already reduced staff due to lack of payment.
- Despite funding cuts, some attorneys remain committed to representing the children in court, emphasizing their ethical responsibility to continue providing legal support.
