The Trump administration has abolished a plan to put on hold an immigrant orientation program, which assists tens of thousands of immigrants with the complicated US immigration system. The Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, made the announcement on Wednesday, during prepared remarks in front of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee.
Ever since the Trump administration had decided that the program, which costs $8 million per annum, should be paused pending review, there has been continued outcry from immigration judges and advocates. Critics said that the orientation program is vital for the likes of immigrants needing to represent themselves in immigration court during deportation cases because they cannot afford to hire attorneys. The program enables group sessions for immigrants in detention with advocates to be given an overview of deportation proceedings, as well as orientation on individual cases, presentations, and referrals.
Sessions said the review will still happen but that the program will continue while it does. There are over 600,000 cases pending in US immigration courts, according to Syracuse University’s Transaction Records Access Clearinghouse. Sessions added that he made the decision due to a request by Congress.
President George W Bush created the Legal Orientation Program in 2003, and it is administered by groups outside the government. A previous audit, in 2012, found that the program saved the government almost $18 million by reducing the amount of time spent on detention and immigration court cases.