Immigrant Rights Advocates Celebrate Sweeping Win That Protects Vulnerable Children from Trump’s Border Assault

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     

October 6, 2025  

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Immigrant Rights Advocates Celebrate Sweeping Win That Protects Vulnerable Children from Trump’s Border Assault 

LOS ANGELES, CA: Following a protracted legal battle in the case Immigrant Defenders Law Center, et. al. v. Department of Homeland Security, et. al., immigrants’ rights groups that represent unaccompanied migrant children celebrated a sweeping win after suing the Trump administration for violating the fundamental statutory and constitutional rights of their child clients. On September 29, 2025, a U.S. District Court vacated the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) unlawful policy and reaffirmed that the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) applies to all unaccompanied children, including those who were caught up by the Remain in Mexico (RMX) program. 

The nonprofit organizations were represented by Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) and Justice Action Center (JAC). Hundreds of unaccompanied children with RMX ties were at risk of being deported by DHS without having their day in court. Now, the court has issued a permanent injunction requiring DHS to adopt safeguards and steps to identify all RMX-unaccompanied children encountered by the government. In addition, DHS must provide notice of RMX status to the child’s attorney.  

In response to the court’s ruling, the plaintiffs and co-counsel organizations shared the following statements: 

"This is a major win that prevents harm to vulnerable children who flee their home countries and seek safety in the United States alone. While DHS is actively working to dismantle protections for unaccompanied children across the country, this order reaffirms the rights of vulnerable immigrant children and the necessity of frontline advocates who fight every day to uphold the rights of our clients,” said Carson Scott, Managing Attorney at Immigrant Defenders Law Center. “Whenever this administration attempts to violate immigrant children’s rights, we will not back down from the fight."

“The federal government should treat kids like kids. Instead, they continue to try to cut corners and send children back in harm’s way,” said Esther Sung, legal director for Justice Action Center. “We’re grateful that the court not only affirmed the rights of unaccompanied children, but also that it established a process to ensure that those rights are not violated in the future.”  

“We celebrate this ruling, one of several recent court decisions that highlight the insidious ways this administration is harming immigrant children and disregarding their lawful rights,” said Javier Hidalgo, Legal Director at RAICES. “But we mustn’t let our guard down, not while the administration continues to use children as political pawns. It is thereby incumbent on those of us who zealously defend our clients to hold our government accountable in court, and for the courts to exercise their fearless judgment in accordance with the rule of law.”

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