Sudden decision to stop funds triggers genuine worry

For most of this century, large numbers of unaccompanied children have been landing in the US in need of services. They are a varied group. Some are fleeing violent gangs in their home countries and are desperately in need of sanctuary. Others are seeking economic opportunity or reunification with family members in the US, neither of which is a basis for asylum.

- Francis Wilkinson, Tribune News Service

Since 2014, apprehensions of unaccompanied children at the southern border have ranged from as few as 30,557 during the pandemic in 2020 to as many as 149,093 in 2022. In recent years, about two thirds come from Central America's troubled Northern Triangle of El Salvador, Guatemala or Honduras. Most are between 15 and 18 and male, but one quarter are age 12 or younger.

For years, a vast network of nongovernmental organisations has helped these children navigate our byzantine immigration system. This month, arbitrarily and without warning, the Trump administration cut off congressionally authorized funding to that network. On Feb. 18, the Trump administration sent a memo to the Acacia Center for Justice, a government contractor that serves roughly 26,000 children, telling them and their subcontractors to stop providing services.