FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2025
Press Contact: Renee Garcia, rgarcia@immdef.org, media@immdef.org, 213-634-2186
ImmDef Sounds Alarm as Trump Administration Denies Safeguards to Unaccompanied Migrant Children
Los Angeles, CA-- On February 18, 2025, Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), received a subcontractor stop-work order from the United States Department of the Interior for all activities related to our legal defense programs for unaccompanied children. ImmDef is the largest legal service provider to unaccompanied children in Southern California and provides comprehensive legal services including 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 safety and welfare of children in government custody should be the primary concern of our elected leaders. Today’s decision by the Trump administration to eliminate access to counsel for 26,000 children is an affront to American values. The Trump administration is abandoning children for the sake of politics and leaving kids to fend for themselves against our complex immigration system.
Trump’s decision to slash a 20-year-old program meant to safeguard the rights of the most vulnerable among us will only cause more chaos in our immigration courts and violates our commitment to children’s safety. We will continue to fight for their right to legal representation and to uphold our ethical and professional obligations. We urge the government to restore services immediately to protect children’s rights. Our government will be judged by how it treats children in its care. By all standards, this administration is failing them and self-inflicting a black eye as the rest of the world watches.”
Learn more about this program here.
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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.