Brielle Meyer

The MIRC said that in many cases, the funding is the only thing keeping a 3-year-old from facing immigration court alone.

^{Photo credit: Getty stock images}

Note: This is a story I wrote for WZZM 13 in February of 2025. The original can be found here.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On Tuesday, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) received a stop work order from the Trump administration. 

They were not the only ones. The organization shared that the notice was sent to legal service providers nationwide.

The notice ordered them to stop work on the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)’s unaccompanied child legal services program.

The order reads in part:

“The stop work order is being implemented due to causes outside of your control and should not be misconstrued as an indication of poor performance by your firm.”

In a statement, MIRC said that stopping this funding will affect thousands of vulnerable children and families across the nation, including more than 800 in Michigan served by MIRC.

On the national level, MIRC said this puts 26,000 children at risk of losing their legal representation and leaves all children in federal custody without representation.

“MIRC condemns this cruel action from the Trump administration, designed to inflict further suffering on vulnerable children and families,” MIRC’s statement continued.

MIRC also said that the ORR’s unaccompanied child legal services program is “essential” to ensuring fairness and due process for unaccompanied children in their immigration court proceedings.

“Legal services are unaccompanied children’s only hope for a fair process in the complex, adversarial U.S. immigration system,” continued MIRC’s statement. “Unaccompanied children’s unique vulnerabilities – including their age, developmental stage, and communication and comprehension constraints – make it virtually impossible for them to effectively navigate the complex and adversarial immigration system without an attorney at their side.”

MIRC cited data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) that revealed judges were almost 100 times less likely to grant relief to unaccompanied children who did not have counsel representing them.

“In many cases, government-funded legal services are the only thing preventing a three-year-old unaccompanied child – one who cannot comprehend what immigration court is – from facing court proceedings alone,” said MIRC.

MIRC’s statement continued to cite issues such as the increased risk of exploitation and human trafficking these children are put in when they do not have representation.

“For instance, MIRC staff helped children who had experienced labor trafficking and child abuse to leave their traffickers and begin to heal,” said MIRC. “Policymakers across the ideological spectrum have historically been committed to safeguarding unaccompanied children from trafficking and exploitation, and the provision of legal services is one of the most important measures the federal government can take to achieve this aim.”

You can read MIRC’s full statement here.