DOJ Immigrant Legal Aid Accreditation Office Halts New Approvals After Staff Reassigned
The recognition and accreditation office at the Justice Department halted new approvals this week after several staff members were reassigned, pausing the program that accredits nonlawyers and groups to help indigent immigrants.
The pause affects applications nationwide and will slow approvals for legal representatives who serve low-income immigrants. The reporting came from CBS News.
The episode traces back to the reassignment of attorneys from the small accreditation office to other Justice Department priorities, leaving too few staff to process new applications. That program vets and approves nonlawyers and accredited groups so they can represent immigrants in immigration court, expanding access where attorneys are scarce.
It is unclear when the office will resume approving new representatives, and advocates say delays could reduce immigrants' access to counsel in critical cases.
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đ Key Facts
- Recognition and Accreditation program has approved zero new applications since March after DOJ reassigned its attorneys to immigration courts
- Office continues receiving 40-60 new accreditation applications per week but only two non-attorney support staff remain
- More than 330 nonprofits sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and EOIR Director Daren Margolin demanding restoration of the program
- Processing times had already lengthened to 6-8 months in 2025 due to understaffing before the reassignment
- Nonprofits say the stall is hampering immigration legal services for large undocumented and low-income immigrant populations, including in Illinois
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