Nearly 20 years ago, Congress passed bipartisan legislation designed to ensure that vulnerable immigrant children could seek refuge and safety in the U.S. Now, these same children are rushed through immigration proceedings in ways that plainly deny them their constitutional right to due process and put them in danger. The Center for Gender and Refugee Studies (CGRS), the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL), the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), and Trial Impact Project filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of Amica Center for Immigrant Rights (Amica Center), The Door, The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project (FIRRP), Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project (GHIRP), Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), and Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS) Pittsburgh. The complaint argues that multiple government agencies responsible for protecting children and ensuring fair access to legal proceedings have been systematically dismantling their rights. These actions have included requiring children to file asylum applications within weeks after arriving in the U.S.; giving children extremely short notice — sometimes less than even 24 hours — of their asylum interview, thereby denying them any reasonable opportunity to prepare or submit evidence; abruptly changing the interview venue and format with little warning; mandating the children appear in court multiple times per month; and instructing immigration judges to rush to “complete” their detained immigrant children dockets by January 31, 2027. Legal service providers representing immigrant children filed a challenge in federal court today to stop the cruel and unlawful scheme to fast-track children’s asylum cases. The lawsuit challenges the government’s broad attempts to rush the deportation of unaccompanied children in violation of their rights and child protection laws passed by Congress.
Many of these children remain in federal immigration detention without access to independent legal representation because the government allowed the contract under which Plaintiffs provided these critical advocacy services to lapse earlier this year. Together, these coordinated inter-agency efforts to expedite the removal of unaccompanied children directly violate Congress’ intent for this uniquely vulnerable group to benefit from special care and procedures considering their tender age and the extraordinary complexities of navigating the U.S. immigration system without a parent or guardian.
A group of attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the accelerated immigration process for unaccompanied migrant children, saying the Trump administration’s policies are unlawful.
This lawsuit argues federal agencies failed to follow the lawful process when they implemented new policies and practices for unaccompanied kids and that their actions violate children's right to due process under the Constitution and the will of Congress. By raising awareness of these issues, Trial Impact Project and co-counsel hope to push the government into following the law and its own mandates when it comes to children.
