April 11, 2025
Children’s Rights has joined with fellow civil rights legal organizations, the National Youth Law Center, The Center For Human Rights and Constitutional Law, and the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic in support of a lawsuit against the federal government filed in March following the Trump administration’s termination of funding for critical legal representation programs for unaccompanied immigrant children in government custody.
As co-counsel for the landmark Flores Settlement Agreement, established in 1997 to provide critical legal protections for children in federal immigration custody, amici have borne witness to the psychological, emotional, and physical harm done to immigrant children at the hands of our government. We have seen how children’s attorneys play a necessary and critical role in protecting children from mistreatment and abuse and assisting them in exercising their legal rights. We partner with legal service providers on a routine basis, and are extremely grateful for the necessary and urgent services they provide to Flores class members in ORR custody.
Through our interviews with children in immigration custody and investigations of detention conditions across the nation, Children’s Rights and our co-counsel partners are deeply familiar with how vulnerable unaccompanied immigrant children are to mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking. Too many children endure mistreatment while in federal government custody, including being subjected to threats and violence from staff. Too often, the government denies children their rights, including prompt release to sponsors, placement in the least restrictive setting, review of the bases for restrictive detention, phone calls with family, access to religious services, and meaningful education. Lawyers for individual children play a crucial role in protecting children from abuse and allowing children to exercise these rights.
As our brief states, a child’s attorney is typically one of the only adults who has regular interactions with the child in custody and may be the only consistent, supportive relationship they have while in detention. The critical role they provide cannot be understated. As one girl, Camila put it: “My lawyer has really helped me to learn about my rights and has supported me in times where I have been very afraid.”
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ABOUT CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
Children’s Rights is a national advocacy organization dedicated to improving the lives of children living in or impacted by America’s child welfare, juvenile legal, immigration, education, and healthcare systems. We use civil rights impact litigation, advocacy and policy expertise, and public education to hold governments accountable for keeping kids safe and healthy. Our work centers on creating lasting systemic change that will advance the rights of children for generations. For more information, please visit childrensrights.org.