Thousands of immigrant children in Pa. abandoned because of Trump decision: advocates
By Oliver Morrison
Published March 26, 2025
The Trump administration on Friday sent a notification to more than a hundred groups across the country, including several in Pennsylvania, that the legal services they provide to unaccompanied minors would no longer be funded.
This decision could leave hundreds of children, whose lives may be at risk if they are deported, without adequate legal representation. The nonprofits that have been supporting these children are now scrambling to find funding to continue their work.
Hundreds of children are brought to Pennsylvania every year to stay in federal shelters if border agents determine there is a reason for them to stay in the country, such as abuse, abandonment or persecution in their home country. A handful of nonprofits have been tasked by the federal government with meeting with those children in their shelters to teach them about their rights and provide legal support as their cases go through immigration courts.
