On Tuesday, the Trump administration sent a stop work order to attorneys who represent children in immigration hearings in Michigan and across the nation.
The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center represents roughly 800 immigrant children currently in the system. The work is paid for with federal funding through the Legal Services for Unaccompanied Children program.
Susan Reed is the MIRC director. She said their clients range from babies to teenagers.
“These are clients who we sometimes have to bring teddy bears for so that they’re not quite so afraid to go to their deportation hearing,” said Reed.
Nationally, the stop work order affects roughly approximately 26,000 children’s legal cases.
A letter from the U.S. Department of the Interior to the center explains the stop work order “is being implemented due to causes outside your control and should not be misconstrued as an indication of poor performance by your firm.”
Reed said the center will use non-federal grant dollars to continue representing the immigrant children in court, but that money is limited.
“With legal assistance, many of our clients become lawful permanent residents before they reach adulthood; without legal assistance the statistics show that’s very unlikely,” said Reed.
