The Advocates Appalled by Trump Attack on Representation
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Immigration Court Observation Sketch (Credit:Anita White)
March 22, 2025 (Minneapolis, MN)
A new White House memo to the Justice Department is a
blatant attempt to intimidate lawyers who represent people seeking legal protections from persecution and
torture.
The March 21, 2025, memo, “Preventing Abuses of the Legal
System and the Federal Courts,” directs federal officials to launch
investigations into lawyers representing asylum seekers.
“Lawyers play a critical role in upholding the rule of law
and protecting human rights by ensuring justice, fairness, and accountability,”
said Michele Garnett McKenzie, Interim Co-Executive Director of The Advocates
for Human Rights. “This directive is yet another attempt by the administration both
to intimidate lawyers and to undermine access to the protections from
persecution and torture that are guaranteed in federal and international law.”
For more than 40 years, The Advocates for Human Rights has
provided free legal help to people fleeing persecution and torture under
repressive regimes around the globe. While federal law makes clear that people
have the right to seek asylum, the law provides no government-appointed counsel to people who have
fled human rights violations. Our volunteer attorneys provide pro bono legal
services, defending their clients and protecting access to justice and the rule
of law.
“The federal government’s byzantine asylum system is rarely
navigable by the people whom the law purports to protect,” says McKenzie. “The
administration’s attempt to frighten lawyers away from representing asylum
seekers is yet another effort to undermine access to this essential human
right.”
The memo comes on the heels of the administration’s termination
of federal funding for legal help for children facing the immigration system
alone.
The Advocates for Human Rights calls on all attorneys to resist these threats and urges everyone to stand in solidarity with all of those facing attacks to their livelihoods and reputations for ensuring access to justice.
