EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — An El Paso migrant legal program has been asked to immediately stop providing services to migrant children who enter the United States alone, according to a statement from Estrella del Paso, an organization formerly known as Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services (DMRS).
The organization’s executive director, Melissa Lopez says this could cause nearly 1,300 children who are clients with pending immigration cases to lose their lawyers.
“This action threatens the ongoing representation of approximately 26,000 children both in and outside the shelter system who have pending immigration proceedings, including 1,273 children who are clients of Estrella del Paso and currently have active immigration cases,” the organization said.
The legal program is funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement which is under the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
More than $200 million dollars fund non-profits such as Estrella del Paso each year.
“In 2024, Estrella del Paso`s Unaccompanied Minors Program provided services to nearly 9,000 (8,763) children in El Paso area shelters operated by ORR. These services include Know Your Rights presentations, legal screenings, and referrals to in-house attorneys for representation. The program also employs more than 30 people left with the uncertainty of their employment status,” the organization said.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the Trump Administration stopped support for legal representation in immigration court for children who entered the U.S. alone on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
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