- United States
- Pa.
- Letter
For decades, nonprofits have provided critical legal support through the federally funded Unaccompanied Children Program (UCP) to children who enter the United States alone. Established in 2003 with bipartisan support, this program was created to protect children, ensuring they are not left to fend for themselves in an overwhelming and complex immigration system.
But that program has been terminated almost entirely.
On March 21, 2025, the administration terminated nearly all funding to the UCP, immediately cutting off legal representation for 26,000 children nationwide, leaving children to face immigration proceedings alone.
Without the Unaccompanied Children Program, children will be alone.
Without it, children will not have an advocate who can help them understand what is happening and why.
Without it, children will not have an advocate in whom they can confide -- these are children who have survived trafficking, abuse, death threats, and more.
Without it, children who are separated from their parents will have no one to help them reunify or to advocate for their wishes.
Without it, children will be forced to appear in immigration court alone, facing a trained government prosecutor and an immigration judge without anyone by their side. Some of these children are toddlers who barely know their own name.
Without it, children will be more vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and abuse in detention facilities and will have no one to advocate for their protection if they suffer mistreatment.
Without it, children will face expedited deportations to the conditions that caused them to flee in the first place, putting their lives at risk.
Please speak out against the cancellation of this program and fight for any money Congress has already granted it to be restored. Please bring attention to these children - go to the border and show the media what it looks like when a small child is expected to appear in immigration court alone. These children truly have no one else to help them.
