El Paso, Texas (Border Report) – An El Paso nonprofit is set to suing the federal government for halting its ability to provide legal services to federal minors.
The federal government halt order includes right-gaze presentations and immigration court services provided by Estrella del Paso, a former parish immigration and refugee service.
“If we can’t provide legal representatives, we expect the number of children who have been deported will rise,” said Melissa M. Lopez, executive director of Estrella de El Paso. “The expectation that children of all ages can enter court is ridiculous for adults to represent themselves to apply for (immigration) benefits without the help of adults.”
Last year, the organization provided rights presentations to around 5,000 accompanist minors at various federal facilities and represents around 2,000 in court.
The contract suspended by the Trump administration explicitly affects 1,273 unaccompanied children (UACs), represented by lawyers for Estrella del Paso.
Trump administration will halt support for representing unaccompanied children in immigration courts
Jorge Rodriguez, a lawyer for La Estrella de El Paso, includes a 13-year-old girl who was lured, beaten and sexually assaulted in her home country.
The girl was rescued from the temptation by a now-missing family member. He said she went to the US alone.
“She may be eligible for multiple forms of relief. (But) she has a court in a few weeks, and I can’t help her – none of my colleagues will help her. I can’t do it,” Rodriguez said. “She needs legal help to protect us, and this order took it from her.”
Another client is a 9-year-old boy who is forced to flee his home country after a criminal kills his father and threatens to kill him.
Advocates fear that those minors and other minors who are harboring federal custody will be prey to criminals or removed from the US, will be exploited overseas.
Lopez said the organization should raise $3 million from donations and non-federal grants to compensate for the suspension of refugees’ resettlement agreements.
“We have a suspension order, but as lawyers, we have an ethical responsibility,” she said. “We have plans to continue our work and represent them in order to respect their rights. We will do so without compensation.”
However, it is not clear whether lawyers will continue to have access to minors after receiving an order to stop work, and pro bono work will be just a temporary solution.
Lopez said the group plans to ask a federal judge to revive the program soon.
The organization also began mobilizing supporters and contributors to Congress contacts, pushing the administration to harm vulnerable young immigrants and denies them not able to remain in the country. I’m trying not to do so.
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