As Trump Administration Escalates Efforts to Detain and Deport U.S. Citizens, Visa Holders, and Permanent Residents, DOJ Terminates Basic Legal Services for People in Detention
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 10, 2025
CONTACT: press@acaciajustice.org
WASHINGTON – Earlier today, the Department of Justice issued a termination order of work under Acacia’s legal access and representation programs, effective April 16, 2025. The Legal Orientation Program, Legal Orientation Program for Custodians of Unaccompanied Children, Immigration Court Helpdesk, and Family Group Legal Orientation Program help families, children, and individuals better understand their rights and obligations before immigration court. The Counsel for Children Initiative provides legal representation to children in immigration court proceedings.
Shaina Aber, Executive Director of the Acacia Center for Justice issued the following statement in response:
“The U.S. Constitution is clear that all people in the United States have a right to due process, regardless of factors like the color of their skin, country of their birth, or immigration status. Due process of law is not optional, especially when the outcome of someone’s immigration case may result in irreparable harm or death.
“Acacia’s legal access programs support a fair and orderly immigration system by helping children, families, and individuals better understand their options, rights and obligations while they are in immigration proceedings, a fact that has ensured bipartisan Congressional support for the continuity of these vital programs throughout Republican and Democratic administrations.
“Particularly at a time when the administration has begun ramping up infrastructure to detain and deport people irrespective of age, cause, or even citizenship, access to legal services in detention facilities and at the courts is more critical than ever. The termination of these longstanding programs will leave hundreds of thousands of vulnerable immigrants – and people arbitrarily targeted under suspicion of being immigrants – without access to basic legal information and representation, left to languish in a system increasingly designed to cause harm.”
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