Feds Grant $9 Million in Legal Aid to Unaccompanied Illegal Immigrant Minors

The federal government will be providing the funding for legal assistance benefiting some of the tens of thousands of unaccompanied [alien] minors recently apprehended illegally entering the United Sates.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that over the coming two years, it will be distributing $9 million to two refugee organizations to offer legal help to illegal immigrant minors in deportation proceedings, according to reports.

The funding will be distributed to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants through supplemental funding from the Unaccompanied Alien Children's program, and will benefit some 2,600 of the unaccompanied minors, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In recent days, other government officials have decided to fund the unaccompanied minors’ legal help, including New York City, which has allocated $1.9 million to the effort, and California, where Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a measure to provide $3 million to fund legal aid for the migrant children.

From October to August, more than 66,000 unaccompanied minors have been apprehended illegally entering the United States throughout the southern border...