100+ children in Utah at risk to face immigration court alone due to federal cuts

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — For years, Catholic Community Services of Utah (CCS) has been providing legal support for hundreds of unaccompanied minor children. These children had escaped dangerous situations in their home country, including abuse or trafficking.

CCS’s Refugee services guided these children through the muck and mire of immigration court so that the children could stay in the country. However, with the Trump administration’s recent announcement to slash funding for the legal representation of immigrant children, the CCS is worried that 126 children that they oversee are now going to stand alone in the courtroom.

“Some of the children that we work with are as young as five or six,” said Virginia Maynes, senior immigration attorney in CCS’s unaccompanied minors’ program. She said these kids were alone when they came to the U.S.

Some of their parents had passed away, and some had abusive parents. Maynes added: “Some of them have wonderful parents, quite frankly, who have made the incredibly difficult, heart-wrenching decision to send their children to safety.”

However, the one journey that Maynes hopes these children won’t have to face alone is the complex immigration process.

“With legal representation, the children are seven times more likely to be granted protection to remain,” Maynes said.

If the child loses in court, they risk getting sent back to the potentially dangerous situations that they had narrowly escaped from and may once again have to live under the threat of abuse or exploitation. Without legal support, the children would have to explain in front of the court why they need to stay in the U.S. while the government attorney argues against their case.

“It puts a completely unfair burden on the child,” Maynes said.

Maynes said that the biggest joy that she feels during her job is when she sees relief on a child’s face as they learn that they’re granted to stay in the country: “Seeing that relief is palpable. And it makes me smile honestly.”

But the smile on her face dimmed as she transitioned from remembering the past to worrying about the future.

“We remain hopeful that this funding will be restored,” Maynes said. However, as she knows that the reality may not catch up to her hopes, she’s asking for donations and additional funding toward the CCS. Those funds would help the organization continue its work to conserve the kids’ childhoods.

“They’re trying to come to the United States so that they can find safety and security and the ability to have a childhood,” Maynes said.

To learn more about CCS, check out their website at ccsutah.org.