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The Acacia Center for Justice says it serves 26,000 migrant
children under its federal contract. The Interior Department
gave no explanation for the stop-work order, telling the group
only that it was done for “causes outside of your control” and
should not be interpreted as a judgment of poor performance. The
halt remains in effect until further notice.
The Interior Department and Health and Human Services
Department, which oversees unaccompanied migrant children, did
not respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.
Acacia says it runs the legal aid program through a network of
85 organizations nationwide that represent children under 18.
The halt comes shortly after the Justice Department briefly
stopped support for other contacts to provide legal information
and guidance to people facing deportation. It restored funding
after being sued by advocacy groups.
People fighting deportation may hire attorneys at their own
expense, but the government does not provide them. Groups that
rely on federal support to represent children said the most
vulnerable would suffer most under the decision to halt work on
the $200 million contract.
“Expecting a child to represent themself in immigration court
absurd and deeply unjust,” said Christine Lin, director of
training and technical assistance at the Center for Gender &
Refugee Studies.
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