Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer announced a bold proposal today to expand San Diego County’s Immigrant Legal Defense Program (ILDP) and protect unaccompanied immigrant children from facing immigration court without a lawyer.

The announcement comes in the wake of a sweeping federal rollback. In 2025, the Trump administration terminated the federal Unaccompanied Children Program — cutting off legal aid for 26,000 children nationwide, including more than 300 in San Diego. A court-ordered stopgap has temporarily kept the program alive, but that expires on September 30. Without local action, children as young as four could face deportation proceedings alone, without legal counsel, starting October 1.

“A fair day in court is impossible without a lawyer,” said Chair Lawson-Remer. “Expecting a 4-year-old who doesn’t speak English to face a government prosecutor alone is unjust. If Washington won’t protect due process, San Diego will. We’re stepping up to make sure no child is left alone in court.”

Lawson-Remer’s proposal — No Child Alone in Court — will go before the Board of Supervisors on September 9. It would formally expand ILDP eligibility to include unaccompanied minors, provide staffing support, and launch a long-term planning and funding strategy to build toward universal representation.

By the Numbers:

• 300 children in San Diego are projected to lose legal aid without local action
• 26,000 children nationwide are impacted by the federal cuts
• With an attorney, immigrant children are 13 times more likely to win their case
• ILDP has already served over 3,000 San Diegans since 2022
• The program delivers legal representation at up to 80% lower cost than private counsel.

Immigration attorney Nadia Galash, who has represented unaccompanied minors for more than five years, emphasized the stakes: “Expecting a child to represent themselves in immigration court is not just unrealistic — it is unjust. With counsel, children have a fair chance to be heard. Without counsel, they lose before their case even begins.”

The press conference also featured the testimony of Abrar, who became an unaccompanied minor at 15 after being separated from his family during the 2021 Kabul airport evacuation. “When I arrived in the U.S., I didn’t speak English, I didn’t know anyone, and I had no family with me. It was one of the hardest times of my life. But with the help of an attorney, I was able to seek protection, reunite with my family in San Diego, and begin rebuilding my life in safety,” Abrar wrote in a statement read at the event.

Lawson-Remer proposed the ILDP in 2021, making San Diego the first southern border county in the nation to provide legal counsel for detained immigrants. The program has become a national model for cost-effective, rights-based legal defense and a local backstop against waves of federal policy rollbacks.

“San Diego didn’t wait for Washington to protect due process before, and we won’t wait now,” said Lawson-Remer. “We will stand in the gap to protect kids and defend the values that make justice real for every family.”

The Board will vote on the expansion proposal on September 9.