New York state will invest $7.25 million in legal services for unaccompanied minors facing deportation, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday. She was joined by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, state Attorney General Letitia James, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, and other local elected officials, advocates and nonprofit organizations including Hispanic Federation and New York Immigration Coalition.
The funding is intended to fill a gap left after the Trump administration let a federal contract funding legal services for unaccompanied children lapse July 31.
Here’s what to know:
Who is eligible – and why?
The funding will go toward approximately 1,400 unaccompanied immigrant children facing active deportation proceedings, including the roughly 250 currently detained.
The funding fills a gap left by the Trump administration’s decision to not renew a federal contract that funded legal services for these youth nationwide through the nonprofit Acacia Center for Justice, after that contract expired July 31.
What has replaced has shifted rapidly. The Trump administration initially moved to award a $150 million contract to Burke Law Group, a small Houston law firm with reported little immigration law experience. But Burke announced it withdrew from consideration for the funding through an X post on Tuesday.
Another nonprofit called Our Rescue was awarded a no-bid, $158 million-contract to provide legal services. The organization has drawn scrutiny because it was founded by a former ICE agent who faced sexual misconduct allegations. He ultimately resigned from the group.
It is estimated that there are roughly 25,000 children nationwide in need of legal representation. At one of the first hearings for detained children after the contract lapsed, the majority of 47 were scheduled to appear without a lawyer present, according to Documented’s reporting.
Why do elected officials and immigrant rights advocates say legal aid is important?
Having an attorney could determine outcomes in federal immigration court. Unaccompanied children could be 100 times more likely to receive relief from immigration judges than those without representation, according to a 2021 Congressional Research Service report highlighted by ABC News.
Who will coordinate services?
The New York State Office for New Americans (ONA) will contract with legal service providers under a coalition led by the Hispanic Federation, a nonprofit organization founded in Manhattan in 1990 that has since focused on Latino social, political and economic empowerment.
Documented reported on several such cases from an August hearing at a Manhattan immigration court for detained youth. One 11-year-old boy, appearing by video and speaking through two interpreters, said he did not know how to complete his asylum application in English. She told him she could not assist him and gave him two and a half weeks to file it or face deportation.
When will services begin, and how can legal minors access legal aid?
It is not immediately clear when aid will become available or how access will be determined. Local elected officials and ONA did not immediately respond to requests for further information.
