DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — At Casa Cornelia Law Center, local immigration attorneys regularly meet with migrant children who ask, "What will happen to me? I'm scared."
Casa Cornelia Law Center is a non-profit public interest law firm that provides pro bono legal services to victims of human and civil rights violations. It represents both adults and children.
In fact, Casa Cornelia's Executive Director, Carmen Chavez, said that in the past year alone, they represented approximately 1,000 unaccompanied minors, some as young as two years old.
Chavez said the children need the attorney's help navigating the U.S.'s complex court system, and said a majority of the times, the children are fully unaware of what an attorney is and what they're about to face with the U.S. court system.
Chavez said between 2000 and 2001, there was an increase in migrant children arriving at the border and representing themselves. That was when Casa Cornelia started taking on unaccompanied minors' cases.
However, now the work the attorneys do will face challenges as federal funding is being halted.
Casa Cornelia learned last Friday, March 21st, that the grants they receive, which pays for most of the services they provide to migrant children, would be significantly reduced. The announcement came as part of a larger $200 million cut in grant funds for legal representation for migrant children across the country.
Casa Cornelia's grants were funneled to them starting from the Department of Health & Human Services to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, to Acacia Center for Justice, who manages the contracts.
The funding cuts specifically target the attorney's time spent on children's cases.
However, the government will continue to fund legal orientations, where attorneys screen children to determine if they legally qualify for representation. If they qualify, the attorneys will have to figure out alternative funding for the orientation.
"Imagine if you had a child who was in that situation and they had to make all these life-altering decisions, wouldn't you want someone that can guide them through the labyrinth that is our legal system?" Chavez said.
Chavez said many of Casa Cornelia's clients are children either fleeing violence in their home countries or are survivors of human trafficking.
One example Chavez recalls is of a 16-year-old boy who fled China during the 'One Child Only Policy' enforcement. She said he was the second-born child and not only feared for his life with the government, but also at home, where abuse ensued. Chavez helped that child find refuge here in the U.S.
That's just one case, and Chavez's team of dedicated attorneys will typically spend between 100 and 150 hours on a single child's case, from introducing them to a legal system they often know nothing about to advocating for them before a judge.
"As I have often heard it said, a nation will be judged on how it treats its most vulnerable, the children," Chavez said.
Despite the significant financial blow, Chavez emphasized that Casa Cornelia has a moral obligation they intend to fulfill.
"I can't leave a child half-stream and drop them into a rushing river," Chavez said. "At the minimum, they should definitely have an opportunity to tell their story and then let the judge decide if their case has merit."
This isn't the first time Casa Cornelia has operated without federal support. The center only began receiving government funding about ten years ago.
When Casa Cornelia started 33 years ago, it represented migrant children with the help of foundation money and donations.
Now, Casa Cornelia plans to return to that previous funding model, relying on foundation grants and private donors who believe in their mission to help vulnerable migrant children.
As uncertainty looms for thousands of unaccompanied minors across the country, Casa Cornelia's said their commitment remains unchanged: "Our unwavering commitment to these vulnerable children."
