The Trump administration is issuing a “stop work” order to agencies who provide legal help for unaccompanied immigrant children.

That affects about 26,000 kids nationwide, roughly 800 of them in Michigan.

Some critics say the government-funded legal representation makes it more appealing for children to enter the U.S. illegally.

But the nonprofit Michigan Immigrant Rights Center counters that some of the kids were relocated from Afghanistan or simply fled from dangerous situations in other countries.

The center’s Elinor Jordan says these children often have few options when they face an immigration judge. Jordan spoke with WDET about the stop work order and the ripple effect it will have.

Listen: Michigan group says Trump’s ‘Stop all work’ order puts migrant children at risk

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Elinor Jordan, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center: The bottom line is that this will mean children will be forced to represent themselves in court. This program helps these children reunite with caregivers, helps them access legal protection, helps them seek out protections that are available to trafficking survivors and abuse survivors. And because we’re so specialized, we’re able to provide advocates who are not only legal experts in some of these very complex areas of law but also have the ability to provide the services in a child-centered way. Sometimes that means helping a child understand the concept of a country and a border in the first place. Sometimes that means working with them to identify a stuffed animal that might help them remain calm while they’re being cross-examined. Sometimes that means helping them understand different processes by using cartoon characters to help them see what it looks like. These children shouldn’t be left alone to do this for themselves.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: In your view, is that even possible for children to represent themselves? Especially if they are at a very young age?

EJ: Absolutely not. And unlike in criminal court, in immigration court you’re not provided a lawyer if you can’t afford one. This means individuals must represent themselves, even in what the Supreme Court has identified as some of the most complicated areas of law. It’s challenging enough for adults, let alone children.

QK: Are these children being held somewhere? Are they incarcerated, typically, or are they with families?

EJ: There’s a mix of those. The legal protections that are in the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act require that children be held in the least restrictive setting possible. Sometimes part of our advocacy is ensuring that is the case. And there have been times when part of our advocacy is to ensure that children who have been victimized while being held by the government are able to access the protections they need to heal from sexual abuse while in custody. Part of our role is also to help them reunify with the people that make them feel safest. Maybe it’s a parent, maybe it’s a family member or a community member. But the numbers really bear out that children who are represented by an attorney are able to stay engaged in the legal process and pursue the relief that they’re lawfully eligible for. About 94% of represented children attend their immigration court hearings. So this really supports the process going more smoothly.

QK: Are these typically children that have been in the U.S. for a while or people that have come in more recently?

EJ: At times there are children who have been in the United States and experienced abuse, neglect or something similar. The majority of the children have been encountered near a U.S. border and have been unaccompanied, without any parent or legal guardian, and are placed in the care and custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Some of our work has really been instrumental in reuniting separated families. For example, during the child separation crisis in 2018 we were able to reunify all children who were moved into Michigan after being separated from their parents. That includes a child who was only 10 months old, who was actually the youngest child known to be separated from their parents. Being able to reunite them and stand in that breach is such an honor and something that really must continue to prevent some of the cruelest outcomes in this system.

QK: Your group and all the nonprofits involved were ordered to “stop all work.” But this basically means that they’re freezing the federal funding, right? Are you able to continue on with private funding?

“[The stop all work order puts] us in a very challenging position. It could impact about 80% of our total funding.”

–Elinor Jordan, attorney, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center

EJ: At the moment we are dipping into small reserves of private funding. We are doing our best because we not only have legal obligations but also ethical obligations as attorneys to continue representing our clients. Once we’ve filed paperwork with the court, we can’t simply say, “Oh, I’m not getting paid any longer. I won’t be able to do this.” We will do everything that we possibly can to see that ethical obligation through and uphold the best possible services for our clients. But it does put us in a very challenging position. It could impact about 80% of our total funding.

QK: The Trump administration had charged that the previous Biden administration did not track or protect undocumented children in the U.S, so big changes were necessary to protect migrant children. What’s your view of how this “stop all work” order is going to affect that situation?

EJ: Well, many experts agree that a lawyer is one of the most important protections to avoid children falling through the cracks of the system. We have often intervened to help children who experience abuses while in custody come forward to law enforcement when that occurs. We have often helped address housing needs that come up if they are in a dangerous situation. A lawyer is one of the most critical things to really connect the dots between the various systems that want to prevent abuse of children. Taking away their attorney takes away their voice and allows them to be trafficked, harmed and really intimidated by threats that may or may not have any legal bearing. One of the most common ways that traffickers exert power over their targets is by using fear about the immigration system to intimidate them into silence and prevent them from coming forward to officials. So, taking away a child’s lawyer strengthens the hand of a trafficker.