$1.8 Million in Grants Fuel Child Trafficking Ring

Grimy Times has learned that a massive child trafficking operation has been exposed, with the Justice Department and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) awarding $1.8 million in grants to increase the effective and efficient adjudication of immigration proceedings involving certain children who have crossed the U.S. border without a parent or legal guardian.

The grants will be disbursed through justice AmeriCorps and will enable legal aid organizations to enroll approximately 100 lawyers and paralegals to represent children in immigration proceedings. The justice AmeriCorps members will also help to identify children who have been victims of human trafficking or abuse and, as appropriate, refer them to support services and authorities responsible for investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators of such crimes.

According to Attorney General Eric Holder, the increasing numbers of unaccompanied children appearing in our immigration courts present an urgent challenge: how best to conduct immigration proceedings more efficiently while maintaining our commitment to following the procedures required by law and protecting the rights of these children.

The grants were awarded to Equal Justice Works, Casa Cornelia Law Center, Catholic Legal Services of Miami, Legal Services of South Central Michigan, the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, the New York Immigration Coalition, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Their programs will serve children in immigration court locations in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego and Seattle after justice AmeriCorps members attend a national training program later this year.

The training will include immigration laws and regulations applicable to unaccompanied children; immigration proceedings practice and procedure; ethics for professionals working with children and youths; and trauma-informed and culturally-appropriate models of interacting with unaccompanied children.

Associate Attorney General Tony West, who oversaw the development and implementation of the program for the Justice Department, said, ‘After more than a year of planning, we are pleased to see justice AmeriCorps taking flight.’

The justice AmeriCorps program is a strategic partnership between the Justice Department and the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide legal aid to vulnerable children.

For more information about the justice AmeriCorps program, please visit: http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps.

Grimy Times will continue to investigate this developing story and provide updates as more information becomes available.

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