The Termination Comes as Administration Moves to Place Unaccompanied Children on Rocket Dockets – a Fast Track to Danger
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2025
CONTACT: press@acaciajustice.org
WASHINGTON –Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, issued the following statement in response to an immediate, near-total termination of services under the Unaccompanied Children Program:
“Acacia’s Unaccompanied Children Program provides legal representation to more than 26,000 children in and released from Office of Refugee Resettlement custody. These independent children’s rights attorneys protect children from trafficking, abuse and exploitation, helping vulnerable kids engage in a confusing and often tumultuous legal process, and to pursue their legal interests and options in a rapidly evolving immigration system.
“The administration’s decision to partially terminate this program flies in the face of decades of work and bipartisan cooperation spent ensuring children who have been trafficked or are at risk of trafficking have child-friendly legal representatives protecting their legal rights and interests. Children with counsel are empowered with the information and assistance that helps protect them from serious harm or dangerous situations – whether in government custody or in communities. Children’s counsel keep youth engaged in their court process while ensuring they know they can disclose sensitive and painful facts about their life experiences to immigration judges.
“Particularly at a time when the administration is expediting removal proceedings that force people through our nation’s deportation system at an alarming rate, legal services for vulnerable children are more crucial than ever. The administration’s decision to end these services undermines due process, disproportionately impacts vulnerable children, and puts children who have already experienced severe trauma at risk for further irreparable harm or exploitation. We urge the administration to reverse this decision and rapidly restore these essential services so that Acacia and our partners can continue supporting the wellbeing of vulnerable child clients.”
More than 24,000 people have sent letters to their Congressional Representatives emphasizing the importance of restoring legal services for children, indicating that there is still broad support for the values of due process, justice, and safety the Unaccompanied Children Program represents.
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