FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Alicja Johnson
Communications Manager
media@ayuda.com
Washington, D.C. (March 25, 2025) – On Friday, the Trump administration issued a near-total termination of work on the Unaccompanied Children Program (UCP), immediately ending funding for legal representation for detained and recently released children.
“Unaccompanied immigrant children arrive in the United States oftentimes fleeing violence, trafficking, and persecution,” said Paula Fitzgerald, Executive Director of Ayuda. “Without legal representation, these children are forced to navigate a complex immigration system alone, with life-altering consequences. Government funding for their legal representation is not just an investment in justice—it’s a moral imperative that ensures due process and protects our most vulnerable from further harm.”
Ayuda is part of a nationwide network of nonprofit legal providers that rely on UCP funding to provide essential services that help vulnerable children access justice. This arbitrary and cruel decision has left 26,000 children at higher risk for further abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.
This cut follows the Trump administration’s move to implement “rocket dockets,” or fast-tracked removal proceedings for unaccompanied migrant children, which severely limit due process and increase the risks of unjust outcomes in their cases. Now, the administration is depriving children of access to legal services and representation. Without legal advocates by their side, their rights, safety, and futures are in peril.
With UCP funding, Ayuda staffs a team of dedicated, compassionate legal professionals who ensure their child clients have the information and assistance they need to seek and obtain legal pathways to safety and stability. Locally, this termination is devastating for Maryland, D.C., and Virginia, a region that has, in recent years, seen a growing number of detained and recently released children in need of immigration representation. Other local area UCP-funded legal service providers have also lost a significant portion of their funding and are now unable to continue this essential work on behalf of our region’s children.
An attack on the most vulnerable among us is an attack on all of us. We urge Congress to stand up for kids and demand that the Trump administration reverse this termination so that Ayuda, and our partners, can continue protecting children from harm.
Ayuda joined over 100 legal service providers to denounce the UCP termination earlier this week.
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About Ayuda:
Ayuda provides direct legal, social, and language access services to low-income immigrants in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Since 1973, Ayuda has served more than 150,000 immigrants throughout the region. Ayuda is the only nonprofit service provider in the area that provides a wide range of immigration and family law assistance, social services, and language access support for all immigrants – including women, men, and children – from anywhere in the world. Visit www.ayuda.com to learn more.
