More than a month after federal Immigration Court began holding a daily surge docket to speed deportations of undocumented Central American children, New York City Council and two charitable organizations have announced a $1.9 million program to fund lawyers for minors who would otherwise go unrepresented.
The initiative, announced at a news conference Tuesday, will allocate money to eight legal services providers that have been volunteering to help the children through their initial court hearings. The providers, most of which have not been able to take on additional clients, will now be able to hire more attorneys and support staff to offer the children long-term representation.
