The Door Featured in Gothamist on Legal Services Budget Cuts
The Door was featured in Gothamist's latest article about the heartbreaking reality for thousands of migrant children following the March 21st termination of a $200 million federal contract that funded legal services for unaccompanied migrant children. Currently, hundreds of young people in New York are expected to face immigration court alone.
The Door is on the frontlines of this crisis. Our Legal Services Center has long provided critical legal representation to immigrant youth who come to the U.S. seeking safety, opportunity, and hope. As our Co-Managing Director of the Legal Services Center, Meena Shah told Gothamist, “That child will be ordered deported from this country—that could all happen without that child ever speaking with an attorney and given the opportunity to obtain representation. The cruelty is really apparent to all of us out here in the field.”
We are feeling the impact deeply. The now-terminated contract represented 60% of The Door's Legal Services Center’s budget and 12% of The Door's overall budget, totaling $4.3 million in lost funding.
We need your support. Every donation helps ensure that migrant children do not have to face immigration court alone. Your support enables us to keep attorneys in courtrooms, continue legal screenings, and advocate for the right to safety, dignity, and due process.