800 Michigan unaccompanied migrant children could lose legal aid after Trump cuts

DETROIT, MI — Immigrant rights advocates say about 800 children in Michigan could face swift deportation after federal funding was halted.

President Donald Trump’s administration essentially ended the funding for legal aid that helped migrant children entering the country without a parent or guardian.

A federal lawsuit filed this week, though, could challenge the administration’s decision, officials said.

Officials with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) said their agency and peer organizations across the country received a Friday, March 21, contract termination notice that largely eliminates funding used to help unaccompanied minors navigate the complex immigration system.

“This is the largest attack on immigrant children in Michigan since we faced the family separation crisis in 2018,” Susan Reed, MIRC director, said in a statement.

“Not only will more than 800 vulnerable children in Michigan face losing their dedicated lawyers, but we are rolling back decades of progress on protecting the rights of immigrant children. Children with representation are more likely to win their cases and unrepresented children tend to lose, so this action will change the course of our clients’ whole lives.”

MIRC isn’t the lone agency affected by the federal cuts, which officials said could impact about 26,000 children facing immigration court proceedings across the U.S.

MIRC officials said Washington, D.C.-based Acacia Center for Justice serves as the primary contractor that receives the targeted funding via the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. MIRC is among the Acacia Center for Justice subcontractors.

Acacia Center for Justice officials said they were informed March 21 that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was terminating nearly all the legal work that the center does.

“It’s extremely concerning because it’s leaving these kids without really important support,” said Ailin Buigues, who heads Acacia Center for Justice’s unaccompanied children program. “They’re often in a very vulnerable position.”

People fighting deportation do not have the same right to representation as people going through criminal courts, although they can hire private attorneys.

But there has been some recognition that children navigating the immigration court system without a parent or guardian are especially vulnerable.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2008 created special protections for children who arrive in the U.S. without a parent or a legal guardian.

Emily G. Hilliard, deputy press secretary at Health and Human Services, said in an emailed statement that the department “continues to meet the legal requirements established” by the Act as well as a legal settlement guiding how children in immigration custody are being treated.

The termination comes days before the contract was to come up for renewal on March 29. Roughly a month ago the government temporarily halted all the legal work Acacia Center for Justice and its subcontractors do for immigrant children, but then days later, Health and Human Services reversed that decision.

The program is funded by a five-year contract, but the government can decide at the end of each year if it renews it or not.

A copy of the termination letter obtained by The Associated Press said the contract was being terminated “for the Government’s convenience.”

Officials with the Washington, D.C.-based Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Los Angeles-based Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and Los Angeles-based Justice Action Center on Thursday, March 27, announced the filing of a lawsuit in federal court in California.

The federal lawsuit, filed against the Department of Health & Human Services and other defendants, challenges the termination of the services and aims to restore immediate access to the program, according to a statement from Amica Center for Immigrant Rights officials.

“The Trump administration’s decision to terminate these national legal service programs poses a significant threat to the rights of already vulnerable unaccompanied immigrant children,” Sam Hsieh, a deputy program director for the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said in a statement.

“Many of these children are eligible for immigration relief but are unable to meaningfully seek it without an attorney. This is the most brazen attack on immigrant children since family separation.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.