In the US, Congress is considering removing legal support for unaccompanied migrant children who arrive in the country. NBC reports that organizations that currently provide this support say leaving them without an attorney would be “catastrophic,” including for victims of human trafficking.  

Dismantling protections for the most vulnerable 

A proposal put forward in a House committee seeks to remove funding that provides unaccompanied child migrants legal support to navigate the immigration process. Subsequently, groups that have been struggling to help these migrant children said such a move would be disastrous for a group already extremely vulnerable to exploitation. 

Jennifer Podkul, vice president for policy and advocacy at Kids in Need of Defense, said: 

“This bill not only makes it impossible for children to access protection in the United States, but it would make the government responsible for putting children in even more compromised and dangerous conditions.” 

The proposed change would reverse what experts called “impressive” progress against human trafficking over the past 25 years. The White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the House Judiciary Committee did not respond to requests for comments.

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