SALT LAKE CITY — The Department of Health and Human Services recently cut nearly all funding that provides legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children. That will impact thousands of minors across the country, including dozens in Utah.
Advocates say the children impacted are among the most vulnerable victims of an immigration system desperately in need of repair. They add that the funding cuts will make it even more difficult for young people to achieve due process under the law.
On March 21, Virginia Maynes, the Senior Immigration Attorney for Catholic Community Services in Utah, received the news that the Trump administration was officially terminating legal services under the unaccompanied minor program, defunding legal representation for 26,000 children nationwide, including 126 in Utah.
“And it was; 'Stop work immediately on these cases!' But we have an obligation, and we as attorneys have an ethical obligation," Maynes remembered.
Refugee resettlement flights canceled after Utah groups lose federal funding:
Maynes and six other attorneys with Catholic Community Services are currently representing 126 unaccompanied minors. She says they typically submit their invoices to the government for reimbursement. Now, for the foreseeable future, they and attorneys like Shawn Smith will be doing that work pro bono.
"They're children that have been abandoned, neglected, abused, so they are the primary target for exploitation," Smith explained. "A lot of times they are leaving a horrible environment to come live with individuals, the only individuals they might know.”
Smith has been an immigration attorney for more than a decade. He and Maynes are among a handful of Utah attorneys committed to trying to give these young people the best possible chance at finding a safe, permanent home.
Maynes calls it a moral obligation.
"We’re not guaranteeing that they’ll be able to remain in the United States, but they should at least have a fair opportunity to present the reasons why they need protection here," she said.
Smith is sad and confused by the funding termination. He understands the immigration system needs to be improved, but in the case of these young children, not in such a drastic fashion.
"Efficiency is for things, and empathy is for people. And if we get those mixed up, we can have some problems," he explained.
Smith and Maynes will continue to do whatever they can to help the current group of unaccompanied minors in Utah, but they say more will be coming.
Anyone in the community looking to donate either their time or money to help those affected by the cuts can click CLICK HERE.
