Kids in Need of Defense

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) provides legal representation for immigrant children who make the difficult and dangerous journey to the United States unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. With this award, KIND collaborates with the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration to offer a three-day training and technical assistance workshop to legal service providers who represent unaccompanied youth in immigration proceedings. In addition, attorneys, academic experts, and advocates discuss strategies to preserve humanitarian protections for the children.

Founded in 2009, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) provides legal representation to immigrant children who make the difficult and dangerous journey to the United States unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. Deriving policy recommendations from its direct service practice, KIND advocates for children to have a full and fair opportunity to seek humanitarian protection in the United States. As part of a working group on unaccompanied immigrant children, KIND leads a subcommittee of federal and non-governmental stakeholders in developing a framework to articulate the scope of protection for these children under U.S. immigration law. The policy recommendations produced by the subcommittee clarify the scope of protection of children from persecution, gang recruitment, human trafficking, family violence, and other forms of harm.

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) provides legal representation for immigrant children who make the difficult and dangerous journey to the United States unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. In response to a sharp increase in arrivals of unaccompanied immigrant children to the United States in recent years, KIND educates policymakers on the causes of child migration and the humanitarian safeguards available to children under current U.S. immigration law. It identifies trends in jurisprudence from its caseload and promotes modifications to law and policy to ensure that child migrants have a full and fair opportunity to seek protection in the United States. This award funds a Policy Director, who draws on KIND's policy research and experience with legal representation to educate lawmakers and inform federal officials about the needs of unaccompanied child migrants.

This grant to Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) will address the ongoing surge in arrivals of immigrant children who make the difficult and dangerous journey to the United States, unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. These children typically seek protection from persecution, gang recruitment, human trafficking, or family violence in their countries of origin. KIND will recruit and train pro bono attorneys to represent the children in their immigration cases. KIND will also promote modifications to law and policy that will guarantee child migrants a full and fair opportunity to seek protection in the United States.

This grant to Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) will support a coordinated effort to address the rising number of unaccompanied immigrant children who seek legal protection in the United States each year. KIND, in coordination with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC Hastings School of Law, will expand training programs for pro bono attorneys, provide technical assistance in individual cases, and track case outcomes nationwide. This joint effort will identify trends and inform policy makers seeking to improve the protection regime for unaccompanied immigrant children in the United States.