Critics decry Trump administration’s move to assign government lawyers to migrant kids’ cases

MIAMI (AP) — The Trump administration is creating a team of attorneys to represent children who traveled alone to the United States in immigration proceedings, which critics say would deprive them of having lawyers who aren't employed by the government and could put them at greater risk of deportation.The U.S. Health and Human Services Department lawyers will “provide direct legal advice and counsel” to unaccompanied migrant children, according to an announcement in the Federal Register signed by Secretary Robert F. The decision, announced last week without fanfare, offered no details beyond that broad mandate.Health and Human Services said in a statement that its Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division will work under its general counsel's direction toward “safely reuniting these children with their families and ensuring they have the legal support they need.”“This new division will give the Department an additional mechanism to provide these children direct legal support while dedicated public servants work around the clock to safely reunify them with their families,” the department told The Associated Press in a brief statement.

It didn't answer additional questions, including whether it would continue to contract with nongovernmental groups for legal representation or when its new legal division is expected to be fully operational.The move appears to lay the groundwork for one of the biggest changes since guaranteed free legal representation for unaccompanied migrant children was introduced in 2008. It comes after the administration cut ties with the Acacia Center for Justice, a nongovernmental organization that managed 24,000 cases and held a contract to provide representation through a vast network of legal service providers.The change means migrant children will not have an independent representative to advocate for them who doesn't have a conflict of interest, said Shaina Aber, the Acacia Center's executive director.“Placing children’s legal representation and services inside of the same agency that holds children in federal immigration custody is an unprecedented step that does not meet basic standards of independence of counsel,” Aber said. It “will only give HHS new opportunities to forsake children’s rights and well-being.”Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, a nonprofit that provides free legal repre…

Health and Human Services said in a statement that its Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division will work under its general counsel’s direction toward “safely reuniting these children with their families and ensuring they have the legal support they need.” “This new division will give the Department an additional mechanism to provide these children direct legal support while dedicated public servants work around the clock to safely reunify them with their families,” the department told The Associated Press in a brief statement. The move appears to lay the groundwork for one of the biggest changes since guaranteed free legal representation for unaccompanied migrant children was introduced in 2008. The change means migrant children will not have an independent representative to advocate for them who doesn’t have a conflict of interest, said Shaina Aber, the Acacia Center’s executive director.

“Placing children’s legal representation and services inside of the same agency that holds children in federal immigration custody is an unprecedented step that does not meet basic standards of independence of counsel,” Aber said.