Legal Services Must Continue: Help Us Raise $500,000
Critical funding has stopped. Their cases have not.
Justice for all Immigrants urgently needs to raise $500,000 to sustain legal services following funding losses affecting our unaccompanied children and deportation defense programs. Children and people facing deportation still have hearings to attend and deadlines to meet. We need your support to keep their legal representation going.
On July 31, 2026, the federal contract with the Acacia Center for Justice ended, disrupting a nationwide network of nearly 100 legal service providers, including JFAI. Acacia warned that more than 20,000 unaccompanied children were at risk of losing the attorneys helping them navigate complex immigration proceedings.
Separately, funding for JFAI’s deportation defense work through the Harris County Immigrant Legal Services Fund was halted following a June 26 Texas Supreme Court order blocking disbursements.
Federal law requires the government to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that eligible unaccompanied children have counsel in legal proceedings. Yet funding interruptions are undermining the organizations that provide that representation.
JFAI continues representing 43 unaccompanied children after Acacia funding ended. Their attorneys have gained the trust of the children, know their histories,and are best-suited to continue their cases. Without replacement support, these children could lose the trust and guidancethey've built over the years as their proceedings continue.
Daniel knows how funding loss can interrupt legal help. After losing his parents at an early age, he came to the United States as an unaccompanied child, hoping to build a future and support his grandmother. When his previous attorney’s nonprofit lost funding, that attorney referred him to JFAI.
During more than a year in detention, JFAI continued representing Daniel and keeping him informed.
“I honestly didn’t know what to do during the year I was confined,” he shared. “They have never left me alone and have always supported me.”
After his release, Daniel began working in roofing and rebuilding his daily life. His immigration case remains pending, but he can begin supporting his family.
“I have a job, I can help my family, and I have peace of mind,” he said.
Your gift helps sustain the legal work behind that continued support, from gathering evidence to preparing clients for court. It helps keep attorneys beside children and people facing deportation through cases that can take months or years.
Please help JFAI raise $500,000 so funding loss does not leave our clients facing their next hearing alone. Their cases cannot wait.
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