FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 11, 2025
CONTACT: press@acaciajustice.org
As Trump Administration Continues to Dismantle Due Process Protections Across the Country, Court Orders Government to Resume Providing Immigration Legal Services to Class Members of the Ms. L Settlement
WASHINGTON – Sara Van Hofwegen, managing director of legal access programs at the Acacia Center for Justice, issued the following statement in response to the court’s most recent order in Ms. L v. ICE:
“This court order is an important first step toward ensuring that families coping with the lasting scars of separation have access to mandated legal information and support they need to navigate their immigration case. Acacia is ready to work with the Department of Justice to swiftly comply with the Court and restore these critical services. Particularly at a time when the administration is stripping community members of their basic due process rights, access to legal services for people navigating their court cases is more critical than ever.”
On April 11, 2025, the Department of Justice announced that it would discontinue the Legal Access Services for Reunified Families Program for family members who endured the first Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” family separation policies, effective on April 30.
Without alternative services in place, this decision ended legal services for thousands of parents and children who were subjected to intentional family separation and directly violated the Ms. L Settlement Agreement, which requires the government to provide basic legal access and information to families separated under those policies.
Legal Access Services for Reunified Families (LASRF) services were provided by nine regional legal service providers and a national pro bono service provider. The programs provided services to class members and their qualified additional family members throughout the U.S. and three U.S. territories.
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