Families Torn Apart by Trump Now Face Legal Aid From Their Prosecutors
After cutting ties with a nonprofit aiding separated families, the Justice Department now wants to advise the same migrants it prosecutes
WASHINGTON — Last week, the Department of Justice has moved to provide direct legal assistance to migrant families separated under the Trump-era border policy, after abruptly ending a federal contract with the nonprofit Acacia Center for Justice — a shift immigrant advocates say could endanger the very families the program was meant to protect.
“They’re being asked to trust the government that harmed them to tell them how to move forward,” said Sara Van Hofwegen, Acacia’s managing director of legal access programs, in comments to The California Newsroom, which first reported the story.
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The decision affects up to 8,000 migrants covered under a 2023 settlement in Ms. L v. ICE, a class-action lawsuit brought by the ACLU over illegal family separations. The agreement had guaranteed access to legal services, including help with parole and asylum applications.
The DOJ now says its Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) will take over legal aid delivery, citing a desire “to maximize efficiency in the delivery of the program services,” according to court filings. But critics say the move creates a grave conflict of interest, with the same agency adjudicating immigration cases now offering legal advice to the families it is prosecuting.
“It is about as extreme a conflict of interest as you can imagine,” said David Super, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown. “The only analogy I can think of is when police officers play good cop, bad cop.”
At a federal hearing Wednesday, the ACLU argued the DOJ has neither the legal authority nor the staffing to fulfill the aid obligations. “We’re talking about thousands of cases,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt. “It takes a lot of work to get a firm to take one [pro bono] case.”
EOIR plans to begin offering group sessions and self-help workshops by May 15, but legal providers argue those are insufficient. “These are people who have been through a lot,” Van Hofwegen said. “They have really complicated immigration histories.”
Subcontractors under Acacia, including the Immigration Center for Women and Children in California, have already begun canceling scheduled legal appointments. “As of 5-1, we’re operating without any funding,” said directing attorney Danielle Fritz.
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Advocates worry the shift will erode trust and silence families fearing retaliation. “There are going to be questions, of course, lack of trust,” Fritz said. “People may be unwilling to participate.”
Judge Dana Sabraw, who approved the settlement, declined to block the DOJ’s plan but asked the ACLU to return May 15 with evidence of harm. If families miss critical deadlines for parole or work authorization, Sabraw said they can seek relief on a case-by-case basis.
“This administration is already taking information out of context,” warned Super. “Putting them in a position to purport to provide legal services... opens the door wide for them to get more information they can distort.”