Judge Orders Trump Administration To Reinstate Legal Aid To Migrant Children Who Travelled Alone To US

<p>On Tuesday, a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration to temporarily reinstate legal aid to tens of thousands of migrant children who are in the United States without a parent or guardian, AP reported.</p>
<p>The Acacia Centre for Justice, which offers legal assistance to unaccompanied migrant children under the age of 18 through a network of legal aid organisations that subcontract with the centre, had its contract with the Republican administration terminated on March 21.</p>
<h2>What Judge Said?</h2>
<p>US District Judge Araceli Mart&iacute;nez-Olgu&iacute;n of San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order. She said that while the lawsuit is still pending, a return to the status quo is warranted since advocates voiced valid concerns about whether the administration had broken the 2008 statute. The directive will go into force on Wednesday and last until April 16.</p>
<p>She wrote, &ldquo;The Court additionally finds that the continued funding of legal representation for unaccompanied children promotes efficiency and fairness within the immigration system”, AP reported.</p>
<p>According to the plaintiffs, the program’s termination is in violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation Act of 2008, which established particular safeguards for immigrant children who are unable to independently negotiate a complicated immigration system. They stated that some of their clients are too young to communicate, while others are too traumatised and non-English speaking.</p>
<p>According to the 2008 law, the government must make sure that all minors who enter the nation alone receive legal representation to defend them in court and to ‘protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking’ to the ‘greatest extent practicable.'</p>
<p>At a time when the government is striving to cut costs, defendants, including the Department of Health and Human Services and its Office of Refugee Resettlement, claimed that taxpayers are not obligated to cover the cost of direct legal help to migrant children. &nbsp;Additionally, they stated that a contract termination that would have taken effect at the end of March is outside the jurisdiction of district courts.</p>
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