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Original Date Announced
January 22, 2025Newsweek reports that DOJ ordered legal service providers who receive federal funding for EOIR's Legal Orientation Program, the Immigration Court Helpdesk, the Family Group Legal Orientation Program, and the Counsel for Children Initiative to "stop work immediately" on those programs. The stop-work order was sent to affected organizations via email and appears related to the EO on "Protecting the American People Against Invasion," which ordered a review of funding to organizations serving removable noncitizens.
Trump 2.0 [ID # 1492]
2025.01.23 DOJ Stops Federal Legal Aid to Immigrants - NewsweekEffective Date
January 22, 2025Subsequent Trump and Court Action(s)
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January 31, 2025
2025.01.31 Amica Center for Immigrant Rights v. Dept. of Justice, No. 1:25-cv-00298 (D.D.C.) - Complaint
The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and partner organizations sued DOJ and other government officials for shutting down EOIR legal orientation programs. The lawsuit challenges the government's stop-work order for legal access programs and requests a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction for the programs to resume during litigation. Amica Center for Immigrant Rights v. DOJ, No. 1:25-cv-00298 (D.D.C. filed on Jan. 31, 2025).
**Litigation entries are limited to initial complaints and major substantive rulings. For pleadings and additional information, use name and docket number to search Civil Rights Clearinghouse and CourtListener or visit Just Security Litigation Tracker**
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February 2, 2025
2025.02.03 - AP News: Justice Department restores funding for programs that provide guidance in immigration courts
The Associated Press reports that on February 2, 2025, DOJ rescinded the stop-work order issued on January 22, 2025, restoring funding to EOIR's Legal Orientation Program, the Immigration Court Helpdesk, the Family Group Legal Orientation Program, and the Counsel for Children Initiative.
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February 3, 2025
2025.02.03 Acacia Center for Justice Resumes Service on Critical Legal Access Programs Following TRO from Federal Judge
On February 2, 2025, DOJ notified the Acacia Center for Justice that the stop-work order issued on January 22, 2025 on four of its programs had been lifted following the temporary restraining order entered in the case of New York v. Trump, No. 25-cv-39-JJM-PAS (D.R.I.), ECF No. 50."
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April 10, 2025
2025.04.10 DOJ terminates funding for EOIR legal access and representation programs
DOJ informed legal service organizations it is terminating EOIR legal access and representation programs effective April 16, 2025. The Family Group Legal Orientation Program (FGLOP), Counsel for Children Initiative (CCI), Immigration Court Helpdesk (ICH), Legal Orientation Program, and Legal Orientation Program for Custodians (LOPC) are being terminated "for the convenience of the government."
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Current Status
Not in effectOriginal Trump Policy Status
Status: Reported In Litigation RescindedTrump Administration Action: Agency DirectiveSubject Matter: Hearings and AdjudicationsAgencies Affected: DOJAssociated or Derivative Policies
- January 20, 2025 EO 14159: "Protecting the American People Against Invasion"
- January 31, 2025 EOIR's Office of Legal Access Programs Condemned as "Wasteful"
Documents
Trump-Era Policy Documents
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Commentary
2025.01.30 Letter from Round Table of Former Immigration Judges Re: Legal Orientation Program
The Round Table of Former Immigration Judges issued a public statement expressing concern over DOJ's termination of the Legal Orientation Program (LOP). "In our many decades of experience on the bench, we found LOP to contribute considerably to the efficiency of the detained Immigration Courts."
Go to article2025.02.09 Relief for immigrants as legal services restored after Trump-induced chaos - The Guardian
The Guardian reports that despite the temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to shut down four of DOJ's immigration legal aid programs, the "unexpected break in legal services took its toll." Legal service providers contracted to carry out the DOJ programs had to pause critical services, and "some of the country's most vulnerable people lost access to their first or only touchpoint with credible legal advice."
Go to article2025.04.10 Acacia Center for Justice Statement on Termination of Critical Legal Access and Representation Programs
The Acacia Center for Justice stated in response to DOJ's 4/10/25 notice of termination of legal access and representation programs: “The termination of these longstanding programs will leave hundreds of thousands of vulnerable immigrants – and people arbitrarily targeted under suspicion of being immigrants – without access to basic legal information and representation, left to languish in a system increasingly designed to cause harm.”
Go to article"Railroad kids through the system": Immigration court's youngest left to their own devices - CNN
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports that immigrants' rights advocates are working to educate unaccompanied minors on the immigration court process to address federal cuts to volunteer legal representation. According to Wendy Young of Kids in Need of Defense, as a result of such funding cuts, "[w]e would probably see more like 90 percent of these kids going through proceedings without counsel."
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