Myths vs. Facts – CLSEPA v. HHS
Because kids should be kids, not lawyers.
Myth: Pro bono attorneys can fill the gap left by defunding legal services.
Fact: While pro bono attorneys play an important role, they cannot fully replace experienced, full-time legal teams. Unaccompanied children’s cases are often long, complex, and emotionally demanding. The current need far outpaces what volunteers can realistically provide.
Myth: Unaccompanied children don’t have legal status, so they aren’t entitled to legal protections.
Fact: A child’s lack of immigration status does not mean they are ineligible for protection. U.S. law provides safeguards for children who have survived trafficking, abuse, death threats, and other serious harm. Legal representation is essential to help them access those protections. It’s not bending the law, it’s enforcing it.
Myth: Giving children lawyers encourages more of them to come to the U.S.
Fact: There is no evidence that legal representation increases migration. Children flee their home countries to escape violence, exploitation, and desperation—not because they expect to receive a lawyer. In fact, most children have no idea legal help may even be available to them. Migration patterns among unaccompanied children mirror those of adults, who are not offered free legal counsel, further proving that legal aid is not a “pull factor.”
Myth: Providing legal representation to unaccompanied minors is unlawful.
Fact: It’s the law. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), the government must ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that unaccompanied children have legal counsel. Denying kids access to a lawyer doesn’t uphold the law- it violates it, and undermines basic U.S. principles of due process and fairness.