Kathy Hochul pays $7 MILLION for migrant minors’ legal services

The fund of $7.25 million is meant to counter the removal proceedings of the 1,400 minors who came across the border without an adult, the governor said in a press conference along with socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“No child in our state should ever face the fear and uncertainty of the immigration process without advocates and legal support in their corner,” Governor Hochul said. “While the Trump Administration is walking away from these children, New York is stepping up to help bridge the gap and ensure their continued access to the services they need and deserve. When we lose sight of our shared responsibility to protect children, we lose sight of who we are as a country, and as Governor, I will not let that happen.”

The announcement from Hochul comes after the Trump administration allowed for a contract with around 100 organizations providing for migrant minors to stop in July, per the New York Post.

During the Bush administration, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 passed and required that the US government provide legal representation for minors facing deportation. Unaccompanied minors who cross the border are typically placed by the US government in the care of an adult sponsor such as a parent, relative, or friend.

However, in May, the Trump administration tightened the requirements for being eligible to serve as a sponsor, with immigrants not being able to after the Biden administration reportedly lost track of 320,000 migrant children in the US interior.

Mamdani said at the press conference, “New York refuses to stand idly by while the federal government abandons immigrant children and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and deportation."

Ahead of Hochul's re-election campaign for governor against GOP nominee Bruce Blakeman, she has upped her rhetoric against ICE.

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