Duckworth Demands Independent Legal Representation for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Being Targeted in Trump’s Mass Deportation Machine

October 09, 2026 Duckworth Demands Independent Legal Representation for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children Being Targeted in Trump’s Mass Deportation Machine [CHICAGO, IL] – After President Trump announced plans to handpick the lawyers who would represent the children his Administration is seeking to deport, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today joined the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), advocates and families to demand that the Trump Administration reverse this heinous decision and restore the federal legal aid the President cut , which helped provide thousands of immigrant kids with independent legal representation. At the press conference, Duckworth underscored how this is just the latest cruel attempt to erode due process and strip unaccompanied immigrant children of their rights as the Trump Administration schedules hundreds of asylum interviews with little to no notice. Photos from today’s press conference can be found on the Senator’s website and the full video recording can be found on the Senator’s YouTube page . “Robbing children of their right to due process is a new low our nation cannot stand for,” said Duckworth. “None of this is happening by accident. After detaining kids by the thousands, shutting off aid to independent legal representation and rapidly scheduling asylum interviews with no notice, Donald Trump is now vindictively seeking to handpick the government lawyers that are supposed to defend these children against his own deportation machine. This is wrong on so many levels and a clear conflict of interest. The Trump Administration must immediately reverse this decision and restore the federal legal aid these kids depend on for a fair shot in court. Children who come to our country seeking safety deserve protection, not a fast-track to deportation.” “The danger and barriers to due process immigrant children face right now are unprecedented. First, they kept kids in detention for months on end, even when their parents were ready to care for them. Next, the Trump administration came for children’s lawyers, whose funding they terminated in August. And now, they are rushing them through court hearings and asylum interviews at an absurd pace. This is resulting in hundreds of Illinois children and teenagers being pushed into the mass deportation pipeline, right before our eyes. We are grateful to Senator Duckworth for standing with these children, and we will continue to fight for their safety and human rights,” said Cecilia Mendoza, Associate Director of Government Relations at the National Immigrant Justice Center. In July, the Trump Administration allowed a yearslong, $200 million-a-year federal contract with the Acacia Center for Justice to lapse, cutting off independent legal services for more than 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children nationwide through more than 100 subcontractors, including NIJC. Without federally-funded independent legal services, hundreds of unaccompanied children in Illinois facing deportation may now be forced to navigate court proceedings and asylum interviews without an attorney, making it harder to understand and exercise their legal rights. Over the past five years, approximately 11,347 unaccompanied children have made Illinois their home. These children attend Illinois schools, have parents or caregivers in our communities and may have pending immigration cases. Last year, NIJC represented about 500 unaccompanied children in the Chicago area through the federal contract the Trump Administration cut because attorneys refused to hand over confidential client information. In the aftermath, many of these children have been forced to navigate the immigration system alone , often in a language they do not speak. Duckworth has fiercely pushed back against the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign and its aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in Illinois. Alongside Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), she conducted oversight at the Broadview ICE processing center, demanded greater transparency and accountability from federal immigration agents as well as called for ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to comply with federal body camera requirements. Duckworth also referred potential constitutional violations by federal officials and agents during Operation Midway Blitz to the Department of Justice for investigation, citing reports of warrantless arrests and excessive force against Illinois residents, including U.S. citizens. Additionally, she pushed back against Trump’s threats to deploy the military and National Guard to Chicago and reintroduced legislation to protect immigrant servicemembers and Veterans from deportation, help deported Veterans return to the United States to access earned VA health care and create a pathway to citizenship through military service. -30- Print Tweet Previous Article