Immigration courts don’t guarantee the right to counsel for noncitizens, even minors. In 2023, only 56% of unaccompanied children in immigration court removal proceedings had legal representation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In 2024, CIRA launched the “Friend of the Court” initiative in which attorneys offer children appearing pro se before the Omaha immigration court with legal orientation, consultation, referral for extended representation, and support during their hearings within the scope of a 2022 Department of Justice Memo. The program is modeled after our successful Attorney of the Day project, which ran from 2014 to 2020; under that model, volunteer attorneys offered minors on the court’s juvenile docket legal screening and representation for that day only.
Both programs provide vital assistance to vulnerable children who would otherwise be required to navigate removal proceedings and defend their legal rights on their own. 

CIRA is currently the only law firm offering Friend of the Court accompaniment in the region, and our team provides such assistance several times a month. Participating in the Friend of the Court program “was a great opportunity to help marginalized communities facing structural barriers to justice. These children, due to their age, often have no idea what’s going on, and we help make that process a little easier for them,” said Ariel Magaña Linares, CIRA asylum attorney.