The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights condemns the Trump Administration’s ruthless termination of funding for legal access programs for immigrants in detention. On Friday, April 11th, the Department of Justice announced that it had terminated these vital programs nationwide, effective Wednesday, April 16th. First, they revoked help for children, and now they are revoking basic protections for adults and families – it is a sad day for the rule of law and for basic legal protections.

This devastating cut not only eliminates funding for crucial legal support in detention centers, like Amica Center’s Legal Orientation Program, but also leaves countless immigrants—already facing the threat of deportation—without the assistance they desperately need. It strips away essential due process protections at a time when the Trump Administration is continuously attacking immigrant communities—including mothers and children, students, and neighbors who are being swept up by ICE on a daily basis.

This termination is a cruel reinforcement of Trump’s mass deportation agenda, undermining even the most basic elements of due process left for immigrants in detention. The programs being dismantled are critical for ensuring that legal advocates can provide essential know-your-rights information and assist people in making informed decisions about their deportation proceedings.

“This is not just daunting; it’s a dangerous assault on our values as a nation,” said Michael Lukens, Executive Director at Amica Center. “As the Trump Administration accelerates their mass deportation machine, those in detention have a right to this baseline legal support. At a time when ICE detention is so high that people are being forced to sleep on the floors of cafeterias and in buses. Trump has doubled down on making it impossible for immigrants to get basic due process.”

But we will continue our fight—in the courts and Congress—and we urgently need your support.

Here’s how you can take action today:

In February, Amica Center’s Immigration Impact Lab, alongside partner immigrant rights organizations, filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Kristi Noem. We’ll be renewing our urgent request for injunctive relief with the Court very soon. Organizational plaintiffs include Amica, American Gateways, Estrella del Paso, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, National Immigrant Justice Center, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, and Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.

Together, we will continue to resist these assaults on our communities and ensure that those facing horrific detention conditions and deportation have access to the legal support they need.