Immigration Law

Behind the scenes as the ABA reacts to DOJ's order to stop providing legal support to immigrants

  •  
  •  
  •  
  • Print

asylum hand

“It’s a fundamental gap that we have filled over the years to ensure that people have not only access to counsel but access to fundamental understanding of their basic legal rights,” says Michelle Jacobson, the chair of the ABA Commission on Immigration. (Image from Shutterstock)

Jan. 22 started as a regular day for the ABA Immigration Justice Project’s attorneys. Some were leading self-help workshops for asylum-seekers who didn’t speak English and couldn’t afford lawyers at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. Others were at the nearby San Diego Immigration Court, where they were helping unrepresented families understand their legal rights and responsibilities. And still others were drafting motions for children who had upcoming hearings and filing deadlines in their removal proceedings.

But shortly after noon, an order from the U.S. Department of Justice changed everything. Lauren Cusitello, the director of the Immigration Justice Project, described the events in an email to colleagues and supporters Tuesday that was shared with the ABA Journal.

In the order, the DOJ directed legal services providers to immediately stop work on several legal access programs that use federal funds to assist people, families and children at risk of deportation. This includes three of the Immigration Justice Project’s programs—the Legal Orientation Program for Detained Adults, the Immigration Court Helpdesk and the Counsel for Children Initiative.

“In a system with no right to court-appointed counsel, these are the only free legal resources available for many people whose lives and liberty are at stake in removal proceedings,” Cusitello wrote in her email.

The DOJ’s directive followed sweeping executive orders from President Donald Trump that aim to radically alter the U.S. immigration system. One of these orders calls for the immediate removal of immigrants without legal status from the United States.

It widely affected the ABA Commission on Immigration, which not only paused legal access programs at the Immigration Justice Project but at its South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project in Harlingen, Texas, and national office in Washington, D.C. The impacted programs also include the Family Group Legal Orientation Program and the Legal Orientation Program information hotline.

“It’s a fundamental gap that we have filled over the years to ensure that people have not only access to counsel but access to fundamental understanding of their basic legal rights and how to navigate the very complex process that is immigration proceedings,” says Michelle Jacobson, the chair of the Commission on Immigration. “It was just devastating to hear that we would basically stop overnight providing these resources.”

The ABA was one of three organizations that participated in the DOJ’s 1998 pilot of the original Legal Orientation Program, which educates detained adults on the immigration removal process and how to advocate for themselves in court, according to the commission. In 2003, when it became a national, federally funded program, the ABA through its South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project began serving immigrants at the Port Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas.

The Legal Orientation Program later expanded to additional locations and programs. Those impacted by the DOJ’s order served more than 192,000 people between September 2022 and September 2024, according to the Acacia Center for Justice, which manages them for the federal government. The Counsel for Children Initiative also provides legal representation to children in removal proceedings, serving as many as 200 at any given time.

“This decision undermines due process and puts lives at risk, disproportionately harming those already facing tremendous hardship,” said Shaina Aber, the executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, in a statement. “We are ready to work with the Department of Justice to review and rapidly restore these essential services, so that Acacia and our partners in the legal field can continue to deliver on the promise of justice for all.”

The Legal Orientation Program and its related programs long have received bipartisan support from the U.S. Congress, as government studies show that they increase efficiency for immigration courts and judges and promote cost savings, according to the Acacia Center for Justice.

In her email, Cusitello described the immediate aftermath of the DOJ’s order. For the Immigration Justice Project attorneys working inside the Otay Mesa Detention Center and the San Diego Immigration Court, this meant delivering to their unrepresented clients the news that they had to stop their conversations and leave without knowing whether or when they would continue helping them.

“The unrepresented parents at the downtown immigration court tried to be strong in front of their children,” Cusitello wrote. “Some of the detainees inside Otay Mesa were in tears, facing looming court deadlines they were relying on IJP’s help to meet.”

Despite the suspension of these federal contracts, Cusitello said the Immigration Justice Project will continue its work to provide access to justice. She asked supporters to make donations to its Resilience Fund.

The Commission on Immigration also is seeking donations in response to Trump’s executive orders and the pause in federal funding for immigration legal services.

According to an email sent to donors Wednesday, contributions to the commission will help create programs and training for service providers, expand the free services offered through its national detention hotline, and recruit and train pro bono lawyers.

The commission noted that the detention hotline is one of the only remaining legal access programs for immigrants who are in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

“We really need to look at private sources of funds now in light of everything that has happened,” Jacobson says.

Donations can be made to the Commission on Immigration or its separate projects through this website.