WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 21, 2025) — A federal judge today ordered the Trump administration to reinstate a critical national program that provided federal funding for legal representation for people deemed mentally incompetent to represent themselves while they are detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Judge Amir Ali of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied the government’s motion to dismiss the case and issued a preliminary injunction in American Gateways v. Department of Justice, ordering the administration to resume the National Qualified Representative Program (NQRP) policy which is the sole mechanism for immigration courts to appoint legal representatives to detained and unrepresented respondents who are unable to represent themselves in bond and removal proceedings because of a serious mental health or cognitive limitation. Judge Ali noted the “the irreparable harm caused when people found mentally incompetent are stripped of their representation and the threat to the public interest when immigration courts are denied any mechanism to appoint representation.”
The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP are co-counsel in the case representing nine organizations that provided legal representation under the program: American Gateways, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Estrella del Paso, Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project, NIJC, Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, Immigration Services & Legal Advocacy, and the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.
Keren Zwick, Director of Litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said:
“This case challenged the government’s decision to take away appointed counsel from vulnerable immigrants and asylum seekers who have been found incompetent to understand immigration court proceedings. We are relieved to see that the judge held that the government cannot strip this population of their right to a fair hearing without reasoning, justification, or any other plan in place to make sure that these hearings are fair.”
Evan Benz, Senior Attorney at Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said:
“Today’s decision confirms the common-sense notion that a government agency must have a good reason for the actions it takes, especially when those actions impact people’s fundamental rights. In this case, the government decided to stop providing lawyers to some of the most vulnerable people in our immigration system – those with severe mental and cognitive disabilities who are detained in ICE custody – for no other reason than “convenience.” As the judge recognized, that is simply not acceptable. We look forward to the prompt restoration of the National Qualified Representative Program and will continue to represent our clients zealously in immigration court.”
About 200 people were receiving legal representation under NQRP in April when the administration suddenly, and without explanation, terminated the program in all but three states. The program, launched in 2013 by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security, provided counsel to people in immigration detention who had been found by an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals to be mentally incompetent and therefore unable to represent themselves in deportation proceedings. The cancellation came amid a slew of other Trump administration actions ending federal programs that provided access to counsel and due process for immigrants facing deportation.
CONTACT:
Tara Tidwell Cullen, (312) 833-2967, ttidwellcullen@immigrantjustice.org
Erin Barnaby, 202-360-4248, media@amicacenter.org
ILCM Communications Department, communications@ilcm.org
Oliver Bernstein, American Gateways, Oliver@SteadyHandPR.com