Trump cut forces migrant children in Charlotte to go to court alone, nonprofit says
The Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy says migrant children will have to go to court alone after another funding cut from the Trump administration.
The nonprofit has represented children who crossed the border alone for years.
But the United States Department of Health and Human Services ended nearly all its work with the Acacia Center for Justice, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., according to a news release from the Charlotte nonprofit it helps fund.
That has in effect killed a $900,000 contract for the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy to represent children who were unaccompanied when they came to the United States, the news release said. Most of the contract paying for the Charlotte group’s legal services for migrant children was canceled on March 21.
In a statement, interim Chief Executive Officer Kara Moskowitz said more than 300 of the nonprofit’s cases were affected.
“Without legal representation, these vulnerable children face insurmountable barriers to securing safety and stability,” she said in a statement. “Terminating the Unaccompanied Children Program will leave hundreds of children defenseless in a complex legal system that was never designed for them to navigate alone. This decision is not just a bureaucratic shift — it is a direct attack on children’s rights and well-being.”
Charlotte is home to the only immigration court that handles cases in both the Carolinas.
More than 600,000 immigrant children have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without a parent or legal guardian since 2019, and more than 31,000 have been ordered deported in that same amount of time for missing court hearings, Reuters recently reported.
Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy clients in the affected program range from a few months old to 17 years old. There is no legal right to a court-appointed attorney in immigration court, including for children. The nonprofit has helped fill that gap locally.
Often unable to speak English and stuck in one of the more confusing legal systems, the children are unable to do much on their own in immigration court, Chief Philanthropy Officer Kelly Lynn said.
Child migrants often come alone and wind up staying with family or family friends in the country, Lynn said. Sometimes they stay in shelters. There is also a sponsor program.
Other funding cuts are hurting the nonprofit, which has offered legal help to low-income people since 1967, some of its leaders told The Charlotte Observer earlier this month. The organization also works with seniors and veterans, among others.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 3:38 PM.