Federal funding changes impact immigrant children

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — South Dakota Voices for Peace represents unattended children in immigration court. To do that, they get funding from a federal grant. But on Tuesday, the Department of Interior issued a Stop Work Order to their network which paused all that funding.

“These are children traveling on their own, to our southern border. And 100% of them are in immigration court proceedings. And to ask a child to represent themselves in immigration court is really immoral, because it’s such a complicated system, and they’re children,” said Taneeza Islam, the CEO of SDVFP.

Earlier today, that funding was restored.

“You could hear people cheering down the hall, but it’s been an emotional roller coaster. Absolutely not knowing if our jobs were on the line, not knowing if we could represent children who desperately need them,” said Islam.

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For Islam, this rapid change has caused mistrust in those responsible for funding her organization.

“I have completely lost trust in the federal government and any type of process that has been developed and instituted for decades, it just seems like nothing is certain. We can’t depend on anything, which causes a lot of panic. Especially for those of us who receive federal funding to do the work that we need to do,” said Islam.

South Dakota Voices for Peace had been promised an opportunity to renew their grant for five years. But with the uncertainty now, they plan to look at additional funding paths.

“It feels so good to know that there are people in the community who support our work who, you know, maybe understand a little bit of what we’re we’re going through,” said Lorena Franco, a paralegal at SDVFP.

“One of the things I wish I could clarify for everybody is the question of ‘come the legal way,’ right? Like, we hear that so much. For me as an immigration lawyer, it’s very complex. But the easiest way I can say it is just because you don’t know what the process is, or maybe you don’t like what the legal way is, doesn’t mean it’s illegal,” said Islam.