County board chair proposes expanding legal defense program to help unaccompanied minors facing immigration court without attorneys starting Oct. 1.
SAN DIEGO — San Diego County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer proposed Tuesday expanding the county’s Immigrant Legal Defense Program (ILDP) to help unaccompanied immigrant children who will lose federal legal representation starting Oct. 1.
The proposal comes after the Trump administration ended funding for attorneys representing unaccompanied minors in immigration proceedings in March. About 300 children in San Diego County and an estimated 26,000 nationwide will be affected.
“Three hundred kids who are not going to have attorneys. It’s pretty heartbreaking. And more than heartbreaking, it’s immoral,” Lawson-Remer said.
The Department of Justice terminated legal representation for unaccompanied children in March, but a federal judge delayed implementation until Sept. 30. With that deadline approaching, Lawson-Remer wants the county to step in.
“We just can’t imagine how anyone could think that’s not the most unethical thing in the world, which is to abandon kids and not have anyone to fight for them,” she said.
The proposal would expand San Diego County’s Immigrant Legal Defense Program, created in 2021 as the first such program in a southern border county. The program provides free legal representation to migrants facing deportation.
Michael Garcia, director of ILDP and chief deputy at the Public Defender’s Office, said the impact extends beyond losing existing counsel.
“It’s people that lost their lawyer, and more importantly, it’s when we see these cases, there’s no one there to pick up a brand new case for an unaccompanied minor,” Garcia said.
Immigration attorney Nadia Galash, who supports the expansion, described representing a Guatemalan girl who spoke only an indigenous language.
“She sat in court clutching her hands together, terrified, shaken, unable to understand a word that the judge was saying,” Galash said. “Without a lawyer, she would have no way to explain the abuse she had survived, no way to ask for the protection our laws already provide.”
The county board already approved $5 million for the legal defense program in this year’s budget. Lawson-Remer’s proposal would reallocate existing funds rather than requiring new money.
However, Supervisor Jim Desmond expressed reservations about the plan.
“I feel sorry for the kids. I’m not sure how I’m going to vote on this, but I don’t think we should put that money aside in the first place,” Desmond said. “That should come from the federal government, not from the county’s local coffers.”
The board is expected to vote on the proposal at next Tuesday’s meeting.