The Trump administration partially cut another legal aid program that funds immigration attorneys for those facing deportation, but also deemed mentally incompetent.
The National Qualified Representation Program, which provided federal funding for legal representation, was cut late last month. Now, several nonprofits that provide attorneys for people with mental illness in ICE detention centers are firing back and filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C. this week, trying to keep the program alive.
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WATCH HERESubcontractors for the NQRP said, over the past decade, they have helped more than 2,000 immigrants with mental or cognitive disabilities.
The program stems from a 2013 lawsuit in which an immigrant man, with a cognitive disability, was detained for almost five years without a hearing or attorney.
"This is part of just another example of this administration's attacks on some of the most vulnerable people in our society," said Eva Benz, senior attorney at AMICA Center for Immigrant Rights. "They've attacked legal orientation programs for detained immigrants-- They've attacked lawyers for unaccompanied children and are trying to make those children go to immigration court alone. And now they've attacked individuals with severe mental health conditions or developmental or cognitive disabilities."
Plaintiffs in the new lawsuit are challenging the cuts, alleging the fight is about due process and ethics.
The cuts have impacted programs in Arizona, California and Washington.
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The Department of Justice has not formally responded to the lawsuit. The agency did not immediately respond to NBC BAY Area's requests for comment.
Those who filed the suit have also filed a motion asking a judge to temporarily halt the administration's actions and restore the program's funding as the case makes it way through the course.
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