The Trump administration is ending nationwide publicly funded legal services for vulnerable people facing immigration detention and deportation. Following the government’s end to legal representation for over 26,000 unaccompanied children, it terminated additional representation for children under the Counsel for Children Initiative and adults with serious mental health needs under the National Qualified Representative Program, as well as critical legal access services for detained adults, adults and families with active immigration court cases, formerly separated families, and the guardians of unaccompanied children.

We’ve all seen the horrific accounts of people ripped away from their families and communities. Defunding these legal services will leave hundreds of thousands of people in the dark about their legal rights, trapping them in detention centers notorious for human rights abuses, and disappearing them to countries where they face certain harm, and even death. As the administration announces billions of dollars dedicated to expanding immigration detention, access to basic legal information inside these facilities will be more critical than ever.

The Acacia Center for Justice’s programs are essential to making sure that our communities — from families and adults in detention, to unaccompanied children at risk of deportation — understand their legal rights and have the tools they need to be safe and thrive.

They want our communities to feel powerless and afraid, but you have the power to fight back.