Judge issues nationwide order blocking Trump’s attempt to cut legal aid for unaccompanied minors

Unaccompanied children will not have to navigate U.S. immigration courts on their own after a federal judge Tuesday evening blocked the Trump administration from canceling a contract that provided lawyers for tens of thousands of children.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a nationwide injunction that required the Trump administration to continue funding lawyers to represent children who are going through immigration proceedings without their parents or guardians.

Despite Congress appropriating more than $5 billion in part to ensure unaccompanied minors have lawyers in immigration court – a right enshrined in two separate laws – the Trump administration in March attempted to terminate the Department of Health and Human Services’ contract for the legal assistance.

Martínez-Olguín faulted the Trump administration for failing to provide any evidence or rationale to justify the decision to terminate the contract.

“The public interest is not served by maintaining agency actions that conflict with federal law and federal agencies’ own regulations,” she wrote.

The same judge issued a temporary order earlier this month, and she justified the latest order by saying it was necessary ensure the Trump administration met its legal obligations.