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The Trump administration has asked operators of immigrant children's shelters to reduce or terminate education, legal services and recreation, citing funding issues as more children have been detained.
The administration said the directive was necessary because of an increase in the number of children placed in his custody. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the law requires some measures to avoid funding shortfalls, including reducing resources allocated to other programs.
"Additional resources are urgently needed to address the humanitarian needs created by this influx – both to support critical child protection and liberation operations and to build capacity," said Evelyn Stauffer, spokesman for the administration of children and families of HHS, in a statement to NBC News.
The claim could violate federal law dictating the conditions of detention of immigrant children by the government. A long-standing decision of the US Supreme Court states that immigrant children in the United States have the right to education.
The movement has been widely denounced by humanitarian and advocacy organizations.
"It's bad enough that the Trump administration is trying to standardize the storage of children," Amnesty International researcher Denise Bell said in a statement to NBC News. "It is unacceptable that they are trying to deprive them so blatantly of their rights. . "
Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, who defends the rights of immigrant children, also criticized the directive. She said that she knew that the agency was facing a funding gap "because the numbers continue to increase and that many policy changes have been made, so that children stay longer in detention and that the beds are not released quickly. "
She said that education and recreation are essential services for children and that legal services are a lifesaver. Having a lawyer to plead the cause of a child in court can be a determining factor in knowing if he can return to his home country safely or if he is protected in his country. remaining in the United States.
The end of legal services will leave many children in asylum-free asylum procedures, she said.
"Last month, we represented a six-month-old child," Young said.
Domingo Garcia, president of the League of Latin American United Citizens, told NBC News that his group had received a call from a shelter worker worrying about the negative impact of the cuts on them. services on children and workers' jobs.
Garcia said it would be devastating for children not to have the chance to participate in outdoor activities and the equivalent of child neglect.
The news comes after NBC News reported on Wednesday that children were sleeping on concrete benches or outside border patrol posts, while health and social services shelters are approaching. at their maximum.
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