Trump administration cuts legal help for migrant children travelling alone
Washington, Mar 22 (AP): The Trump administration has ended a contract that provides legal help to migrant children entering the country without a parent or guardian, raising concerns that children will be forced to navigate the complex legal system alone.
The Acacia Center for Justice contracts with the government to provide legal services through its network of providers around the country to unaccompanied migrant children under 18, both by providing direct legal representation as well as conducting legal orientations — often referred to as “know your rights” clinics — to migrant children who cross the border alone and are in federal government shelters.
Acacia said they were informed that the US Department of Health and Human Services was terminating nearly all the legal work that the centre does, including paying for lawyers for roughly 26,000 children when they go to immigration court. They're still contracted to hold the legal orientation clinics.
“It's extremely concerning because it's leaving these kids without really important support,” said Ailin Buigues, who heads Acacia's unaccompanied children programme. "They're often in a very vulnerable position.”
People fighting deportation do not have the same right to representation as people going through criminal courts, although they can hire private attorneys.
But there has been some recognition that children navigating the immigration court system without a parent or guardian are especially vulnerable.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2008 created special protections for children who arrive in the US without a parent or a legal guardian.
Emily G. Hilliard, deputy press secretary at Health and Human Services, said in an emailed statement that the department “continues to meet the legal requirements established” by the Act as well as a legal settlement guiding how children in immigration custody are being treated.
The termination comes days before the contract was to come up for renewal on March 29. Roughly a month ago the government temporarily halted all the legal work Acacia and its subcontractors do for immigrant children, but then days later Health and Human Services reversed that decision.
The programme is funded by a five-year contract, but the government can decide at the end of each year if it renews it or not.
A copy of the termination letter obtained by The Associated Press said the contract was being terminated “for the Government's convenience.”
Michael Lukens is the executive director of Amica, which is one of the providers contracting with Acacia in the Washington, DC area. He said with the renewal date swiftly approaching, they had been worried something like this would happen.
He said they will continue to help as many kids as they can "for as long as possible” and will try to fight the termination.
“We're trying to pull every lever but we have to be prepared for the worst, which is children going to court without attorneys all over the country. This is a complete collapse of the system,” he said.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
