Judge temporarily restores funding for legal aid for migrant children

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from cutting funding to the program that provides legal representation to tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children.

In her ruling Tuesday night, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez Olguin said the groups that sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the cuts "have suffered near-immediate financial impacts, and they have thus made a sufficient showing of concrete and imminent economic injury."

"The irreparable harm resulting from Defendants' actions weighs in favor of temporary injunctive relief," Judge Olguin said.

Judge Olguin said that the government's termination of funding for direct legal representation directly interferes with the groups' mission, "impeding their ability to provide the direct legal representation of unaccompanied children in immigration proceedings."

"The Court additionally finds that the continued funding of legal representation for unaccompanied children promotes efficiency and fairness within the immigration system," the judge said.

Last week, groups that have collectively received over $200 million in federal grants were told that the program's contract was partially terminated, ending the funding for legal representation and for the recruitment of attorneys to represent migrant children in immigration proceedings.

Currently, 26,000 migrant children receive legal representation through the funding.

Michael Lukens, the executive director for the Amica Center, which represents migrant children in the Washington, D.C., area, called the ruling "a win" for advocates who work with unaccompanied children every day.

"While we recognize that this is the first step in this fight, we are grateful to see the courts are recognizing the immense damage that the government's decision in canceling this funding means to children and our organizations," said Lukens. "There should be no political divide over protecting children."