Access to Legal Representation

The Justice Department has quietly reassigned the small team of senior attorneys who run its 60‑year‑old Recognition and Accreditation program, which authorizes non‑attorney staff at largely faith‑based organizations such as Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services to provide affordable legal help to immigrants before DHS and in DOJ immigration courts. Sources told CBS News the lawyers were abruptly ordered last week by Jamee Comans, acting assistant director for EOIR’s Office of Policy, to report to immigration courts as entry‑level law clerks, leaving only two support staff with no authority to approve or renew accreditation for the more than 2,600 accredited representatives at over 900 programs. EOIR declined to discuss the personnel moves, while a government official insisted the program is not being abolished, and two additional employees were only later assigned to review pending applications after CBS began asking questions. Legal‑aid leaders say the move comes on top of earlier cuts to DOJ’s Office of Legal Access Programs, immigration‑court orientation services and the firing or removal of more than 100 immigration judges, and warn that hobbling the accreditation system will further overwhelm an already backlogged immigration system and leave low‑income immigrants without meaningful representation. Immigrant‑rights groups are treating the shift as a major, under‑the‑radar policy change in how the Trump administration is reshaping access to counsel in immigration proceedings, even as DOJ offers no public explanation.