On April 10, 2025, RBGG filed an amicus brief on behalf of former officials of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, supporting the Plaintiffs in Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, et al. v. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, N.D. Cal. Case No. 25-cv-2847-ALO, who seek to stop the Trump Administration from abruptly ending funding appropriated by Congress to provide lawyers for unaccompanied children in immigration court. In the amicus brief, we argued that the funding cuts would hurt vulnerable children who may have been trafficked into our country, and who cannot navigate complex immigration proceedings without a lawyer. The brief is available here.
On April 29, 2025, Judge Martínez-Olguín of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the motion and entered a preliminary injunction preventing the Trump Administration from cutting off access to congressionally-appropriated funding for direct legal representation services for unaccompanied children. The Order is available here.
In her Order, Judge Martínez-Olguín cited RBGG’s amicus brief for evidence that pro bono representation would be insufficient to meet the need for legal representation for unaccompanied children, Order at 24 n. 9, and that “unaccompanied children lacking counsel face greater risk of exploitation and human trafficking,” Order at 26.
As explained in the amicus brief:
“Every year, thousands of children without lawful immigration status, including babies and toddlers, encounter the United States’ immigration system without a parent or guardian. Many of these unaccompanied children flee their homes to escape violence and persecution, and experience exploitation and trafficking during their journey to the United States. These children often do not speak English and are unable to understand their basic rights or the nature of the immigration proceedings without assistance. Yet they must navigate a complex immigration system to seek asylum or other relief for which they may be eligible. Establishing the required elements for these legal claims is difficult and complex even for an unrepresented adult, let alone a child. Without a lawyer, unaccompanied children are unlikely to be able to fairly present their case for immigration relief, and risk being returned to the very trafficking, persecution, or abuse and neglect that they fled.”
The Government has appealed issuance the preliminary injunction and is seeking to stay the injunction while the appeal is pending. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the emergency motion to stay on May 14, 2025.