FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2025
Press Contact: Renee Garcia, rgarcia@immdef.org, media@immdef.org, 213-634-2186
ImmDef Decries the Trump Administration’s Decision to Abandon Children’s Rights in Immigration Court
Implores Congress to Stand Up for Access to Legal Counsel for Kids
Los Angeles, CA-- On March 21, 2025, Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), received a near total termination of its federal contract for legal services under the Unaccompanied Children Program (UCP) from the United States Department of the Interior on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This follows a previous stop-work order issued in February that was rescinded three days later. The UCP provides 26,000 children nationwide with legal representation, legal screenings, and other services. ImmDef is the largest legal service provider for unaccompanied children in Southern California and provides comprehensive legal education and legal representation for thousands of children annually.
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) President and CEO, Lindsay Toczylowski, released the following statement in response to the stop-work order:
“The Trump administration went all in today on endangering unaccompanied children and interfering with their right to due process, breaking with decades of bipartisan congressional support for legal services for vulnerable children. Without an attorney by their side, children so young their feet don’t even touch the floor while they sit before a judge will be forced to represent themselves. Without a lawyer, the 26,000 children whose access to counsel was slashed today will be at higher risk of exploitation and trafficking and their chances of obtaining legal protection will plummet. No child should be forced to fend for themselves against a trained ICE attorney without a lawyer by their side.
The Trump administration’s daily parade of psychological warfare against the most vulnerable amongst us only reinvigorates us to fight for our clients and communities. We will explore all avenues to restore legal representation for unaccompanied children and we call on every member of Congress, from both sides of the aisle, to defend children and demand that the administration rescind this termination. This is the most direct attack on immigrant children since family separation and just like we fought to reunite those families, we will fight with everything we have to protect children who are unable to protect themselves.”
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The Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) is a next-generation social justice law firm that defends immigrant communities against injustices in the immigration system. Our programs are a first step towards realizing the long-term goal of providing universal representation to all immigrants facing deportation. ImmDef is now the largest non‐profit, pro bono provider of deportation defense in California, with offices in Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Ana, and San Diego.