Who Represents Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Immigration Court?

KQED in the California Report reports that "[l]egal aid groups said they will continue to represent unaccompanied immigrant children in the Bay Area even after the Trump administration shifted federal funding away from seasoned service providers to a controversial anti-trafficking group."

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a $158 million contract to Our Rescue, an anti-human-trafficking group whose current director led Homeland Security Investigations, during the first Trump administration. "The group touts its expertise assisting law enforcement with sting operations, but advocates say it lacks experience representing children in immigration court."

Katrina Logan, executive director of Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, said her lawyers and social workers will continue to represent the 33 children they currently represent, even though their U.S. government contract expired July 31.

“Our attorneys have been doing this type of law for many years. They’ve developed the expertise,” Logan said. “They understand how to support clients. So it’s definitely tough to be losing this funding.”

The U.S. government said it was looking for additional contractors to provide legal representation for minors kids and is trying to work out a transitional contract to “support an orderly transition of cases to new legal service providers, including Our Rescue.”