From CBS News: The Justice Department has quietly gutted a more than 60-year-old program created to ensure that low-income and indigent immigrants can receive competent and affordable legal representation, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell CBS News.
The Recognition and Accreditation program, which is part of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, accredits non-attorneys who work for largely faith-based legal advocacy organizations such as Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services so they are authorized to assist immigrants on everything from naturalization petitions to representation in DOJ’s immigration courts.
The handful of senior attorneys who operate the program were abruptly reassigned to work in immigration courts last week, leaving in place only two support staff with no legal authority to approve or renew accreditation applications, sources with direct knowledge said.
The reassignment orders came from Jamee Comans, the acting Assistant Director for the Office of Policy, which administers the accreditation program. Comans was previously an immigration judge in Louisiana, and last September, she ordered the deportation of pro-Palestinian protester and former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil to either Algeria or Syria. Comans could not be immediately reached for comment.
The attorneys showed up to their new work locations on Monday, where most were told they’ve been reassigned to work as entry-level law clerks — a job typically reserved for people who are fresh out of law school, the sources added.
When asked about the reassignments, a government official reportdly told CBS that the program “isn’t ending or being abolished. It is a longstanding program established by regulation and will continue.”
Pro-immigrant groups are lamenting the removal of the lawyers, as it appears the program has simply been downsized by the DOJ, instead of fighting the legal battles by eliminating it.
CBS News also complained, claiming that the “Justice Department has already taken numerous other steps to make it more challenging for immigrants to navigate the legal system.”
The Justice Department has quietly gutted a more than 60-year-old program created to ensure that low-income and indigent immigrants can receive competent and affordable legal representation, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell CBS News.…
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 23, 2026
Most X users responding to the CBS News report are cheering the move. Below are just some of the comments being posted:
Why should US Taxpayers pay for non citizens’ legal fees?
Saving American tax dollars one day at a time. Let Soros fund their legal representation. Not the tax payer.
Should import people who will not be a financial burden on taxpayers. It’s not fair to us.
So, they come illegally against our laws and CBS expect us taxpayers to pay for their lawyers? Nobody pays for my lawyer if I need one and I pay taxes.
Great, that money can now go toward helping actual Americans.
We all get the same court appointed attorneys if we can’t afford one. Taxpayers don’t need to pay extra for special treatment of others.
Excellent. Ideally, we should ask for the money back with interests though.
Wow, Trump keeps saving taxpayers money! Americans just can’t stop winning!
Good. Why should I pay for the legal fees for immigrants? Want to come to America, follow the rules, pay your own fees. If they can’t even pay the legal fees to immigrate, how do they expect to pay for a house, food, etc.?
Fantastic. Not a DIME of taxpayer money should be spent on migrants. Deport them all IMMEDIATELY.
Should have been ended a long time ago. You enter the country illegally you should have NO rights to anything other than swift deportation.
You mean that the taxpayer is no longer paying the legal fees for illegal immigrants, I’m ok with that. Besides, this program was just a way for immigration lawyers to make money from the government.
AILA’s Greg Chen said gutting the accreditation program represents “one more nail in the coffin to how the courts can operate fairly and be expected to be a balanced, impartial institution of justice that Americans expect out of our immigration courts.” https://t.co/nY1ZdCRAev
— AILA (@AILANational) March 23, 2026
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