VAAP secures a PI in CLSEPA v. HHS

This week, the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction in favor of immigrant children’s access to counsel in our suit CLSEPA v. HHS. The government has already appealed to the Ninth Circuit but we remain hopeful for just results and that rule of law will prevail. Stay tuned for more analysis on this latest update in the ltigiation to save the country’s only federal immigration public defense funding. Meanwhile, some statements summarizing impact on our fellow organizational plaintiffs:

Legal Service Providers Blast Government for Defying the Courts: Three Weeks of Kids Standing Alone in Court

Below are statements from plaintiff and co-counsel organizations about the consequences of the federal government’s disregard for the rule of law and for childrens’ well-being:                                                                                 

“GHIRP’s representation is a lifeline for our immigrant children and youth clients seeking protection in the U.S. The government’s non-compliance with Judge Martinez-Olguin’s order has had an immediate and profound impact on our ability to advocate for existing clients.  Our team is trying to keep pace with rocket dockets in immigration court, rapid fire asylum interviews, and traumatized clients who are subjected to ICE surveillance home visits. GHIRP has received nearly 40 asylum interviews and 60 detained hearings scheduled in the next month, which we must represent with half of our staff. We hope the government follows through on their obligation to restore services so that we can continue to stand with our clients.” Chiqui Sanchez Kennedy, Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP).

“The government is putting us in an impossible position through their noncompliance. The nonprofit legal community has already lost so many experienced, talented, and compassionate immigration attorneys who have dedicated their lives to representation of vulnerable children. Every day that the government fails to comply with the TRO, it's the children who suffer the most.” Mariam Kelly, Pro Bono Director, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA).

“Due to the government’s continued refusal to fund legal representation for unaccompanied children, RMIAN has had to institute a firm rule of not accepting any new clients. RMIAN has had to turn away youth in foster care and children who have suffered human trafficking, abuse, and complex trauma. “It has been absolutely heartbreaking to have to tell these children they will have to face removal proceedings alone,” says Ashley Harrington, Managing Attorney of Rocky Mountain Immigrant Assistance Network (RMIAN) Children’s Program, “but until the government does the right thing, we are left with no other choice.”

“As a result of the government’s noncompliance, NWIRP has had to make difficult decisions about how to allocate staff and resources. We are largely unable to take on new unaccompanied children’s cases for representation, despite an unprecedented level of need in our community.” Northwest Immigrant Rights’ Project (NWIRP). “Children and youth have been deprived of legal representation and they have become the focus of increased immigration enforcement. It is beyond understanding that children as young as toddlers and children who have experienced trafficking and severe trauma will now be expected to represent themselves in court”. Kayley Bebber, Unaccompanied Children Program, NWIRP.

“As predicted, the Trump administration has scheduled the first Asylum Office Circuit Ride to Vermont in over eight years this month, and who is called first? Unaccompanied children, who VAAP assisted to file for asylum without pay since clients were up against the JOP class action settlement deadline–which fell the Monday after the Administration first threatened our funding. The government’s flagrant noncompliance coincides with its aggressive campaign to rush these cases to resolution. I am certain these vulnerable kids cannot access full and fair asylum interviews without the assistance of qualified counsel.” Jill Martin Diaz, Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP).