特朗普政府正在组建一支律师团队，在移民程序中代表独自前往美国的儿童，批评者称，这将剥夺他们聘请不受雇于政府的律师的权利，并可能使他们面临更大的被驱逐出境的风险。
The Trump administration is creating a team of attorneys to represent children who traveled alone to the United States in immigration proceedings, which critics say would deprive them of having lawyers who aren’t employed by the government and could put them at greater risk of deportation.
吉塞拉·萨洛蒙根据国务卿罗伯特·F·签署的联邦声明，美国卫生与公众服务部律师将向无人陪伴的移民儿童“提供直接的法律建议和咨询”。Kennedy Jr.上周宣布的这一决定并未大张旗鼓，除了广泛的授权之外，没有提供任何细节。
GISELA SALOMON The U.S. Health and Human Services Department lawyers will “provide direct legal advice and counsel” to unaccompanied migrant children, according to an announcement in the Federal signed by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The decision, announced last week without fanfare, offered no details beyond that broad mandate.
卫生与公众服务部在一份声明中表示，无人陪伴的外国儿童法律代表部门将在总法律顾问的指导下努力，“让这些儿童安全地与家人团聚，并确保他们获得所需的法律支持”。该部门在一份简短声明中告诉美联社：“这个新部门将为该部门提供一个额外的机制，为这些儿童提供直接的法律支持，同时敬业的公务员全天候工作，让他们安全地与家人团聚。”它没有回答其他问题，包括是否会继续与非政府组织签订法律代表合同，或者其新的法律部门预计何时全面运作。
Health and Human Services said in a statement that its Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division will work under its general counsel’s direction toward “safely reuniting these children with their families and ensuring they have the legal support they need.”“This new division will give the Department an additional mechanism to provide these children direct legal support while dedicated public servants work around the clock to safely reunify them with their families,” the department told The Associated Press in a brief statement. It didn’t answer additional questions, including whether it would continue to contract with nongovernmental groups for legal representation or when its new legal division is expected to be fully operational.
此举似乎为自2008年为无人陪伴的移民儿童提供保证免费法律代表以来最大的变化之一奠定了基础。此前，政府切断了与Acacia司法中心的关系，该中心是一个非政府组织，管理着24，000起案件，并签订了通过庞大的法律服务提供商网络提供代理的合同。
The move appears to lay the groundwork for one of the biggest changes since guaranteed free legal representation for unaccompanied migrant children was introduced in 2008. It comes after the administration cut ties with the Acacia Center for Justice, a nongovernmental organization that managed 24,000 cases and held a contract to provide representation through a vast network of legal service providers.
相思中心执行主任沙伊娜·阿伯（Shaina Aber）表示，这一变化意味着移民儿童将没有独立代表来为没有利益冲突的他们辩护。
The change means migrant children will not have an independent representative to advocate for them who doesn’t have a conflict of interest, said Shaina Aber, the Acacia Center’s executive director.
“将儿童的法律代理和服务置于同一个联邦移民拘留机构内部，这是前所未有的举措，不符合律师独立性的基本标准，”阿伯说。这“只会给卫生与公众服务部（HHS）提供新的机会，以牺牲儿童的权利和福祉。”
“Placing children’s legal representation and services inside of the same agency that holds children in federal immigration custody is an unprecedented step that does not meet basic standards of independence of counsel,” Aber said. It “will only give HHS new opportunities to forsake children’s rights and well-being.”
为无陪伴儿童提供免费法律代理和社会服务的非营利组织“需要辩护的儿童”（Kids in Need of Defense）主席温迪·杨表示，新设的HHS内部法律团队“是该政府一系列攻击模式的一部分，旨在削弱无陪伴儿童在移民诉讼中获得全力以赴代理的权利。”该新部门将独立于处理未成年人事务的其他政府机构运作，包括负责监护和照料无父母或法定监护人陪同抵达美国儿童的HHS难民安置办公室。
Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, a nonprofit that provides free legal representation and social services to unaccompanied children, called the creation of the new in-house HHS legal team “part of a pattern of attacks that this administration has engaged in, in terms of undermining zealous representation of unaccompanied children in their immigration proceedings.”The new division will work independently from other government agencies that deal with the minors, including the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for the custody and care of the children who arrive in the U.S. without a parent or legal guardian.
在民事和军事法庭上，由政府出资的律师为面对政府检察官的客户辩护是有先例的，但那是作为刑事辩护律师，而非在移民法庭。
There is some precedent for government-paid attorneys defending clients against government prosecutors in civilian and military courts, but as criminal defense lawyers and not in immigration court.
但杨指出，儿童的律师、法官以及寻求驱逐的政府律师将全都是联邦雇员。法官由司法部任命，检察官则在国土安全部工作。
But Young noted that the child’s lawyer, the judge, and government attorneys seeking deportation will all be federal employees. Judges are appointed by the Justice Department and prosecutors work at the Department of Homeland Security.
“受雇于政府的政府律师，极有可能会被指导和鼓励采取这样的立场：劝说儿童同意自愿离境并离开美国，而不是全面陈述其案件的事实，”杨说。
“A government attorney who’s employed by the government most likely would be coached and encouraged to take the position of encouraging the child to agree to voluntary departure and to leave the United States rather than to present a full representation of the facts of their case,” Young said.
倡导者称，在不确定性笼罩下，最近儿童们在没有法律代理的情况下出席法庭听证会。
Amid the uncertainty, children have been going to their court hearings without legal representation lately, according to advocates.
另一家为无人陪伴的移民儿童提供免费法律代表的非营利组织美国移民正义组织表示，自7月31日政府暂停通过Acacia向法律援助组织提供资金以来，为未成年人寻找律师一直面临挑战。
Americans for Immigrant Justice, another nonprofit that provides free legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant children, said it has been challenging to secure lawyers for the minors since the government suspended funding to legal aid organizations on July 31 through Acacia.
该集团执行董事Sui Chung表示，对法律代表的需求超出了可用资源。
Sui Chung, the group’s executive director, said the need for legal representation exceeds the available resources.
钟说：“拒绝为我们中最弱势群体--已经逃离创伤的儿童--提供法律咨询，这是对我们宪法承诺的公平性的根本破坏。”“儿童应该得到我们最有力的保护。”政府最近向另一个组织“我们的救援”授予了一份合同，潜在价值高达2.44亿美元。向Our Rescue的过渡受到Acacia的挑战，导致了短期安排，包括与美国难民和移民委员会签订临时合同。
“To deny legal counsel to the most vulnerable among us — children who have already fled trauma — is a fundamental breakdown of the fairness our Constitution promises,” Chung said. “Children deserve our strongest protection.”The government recently awarded a contract to another organization, Our Rescue, with a potential value of up to $244 million. The transition to Our Rescue, which has been challenged by Acacia, has led to short-term arrangements, including a temporary contract with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.