The Justice Department program that accredits nonprofit organizations to help provide legal aid to low-income immigrants has failed to approve a single new application since March— after its attorneys were quietly reassigned to other offices, sources with direct knowledge of the program told CBS News.
A month ago, the small group of senior attorneys who operated the Recognition and Accreditation program, part of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, were transferred without explanation to work in nearby immigration courts, CBS News previously reported.
The Recognition and Accreditation program certifies non-attorneys who work for largely faith-based legal advocacy organizations such as Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services so they are authorized to assist immigrants on everything from naturalization petitions to representation in the Justice Department’s immigration courts.
The reassigned DOJ lawyers were responsible for renewing and approving new applications for the program.
The only two employees who were not transferred are support staff who do not have the legal authority to approve or deny applications. Since the reassignment took place, the office has continued to receive between 40 and 60 new applications per week, one of the sources told CBS News.
The Justice Department last month told CBS News in a statement that the program was not being ended and would continue.
A department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rocío Pulido, the director for capacity building at the Resurrection Project in Chicago, told CBS News that the organization not only has its own accredited representatives, but it also trains others to become accredited legal representatives and provides funding for legal aid to other groups statewide.
After CBS News first reported on the gutting of the Justice Department office last month, the group convened an emergency call with its state partners. The cuts to the DOJ program are hampering the work of the Resurrection Project and other groups.
“This severely impacts our ecosystem and our ability to provide legal services,” Pulido said. “In Illinois, we have a huge undocumented immigrant population and there’s just such a demand for immigration legal services. And we can’t meet that demand with attorneys alone.”
Earlier this week, more than 330 nonprofits who participate in the program sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Daren Margolin, the director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, asking them to restore full functionality to the program.
“In 2025, processing times had already stretched to 6 to 8 months due to understaffing. Now, the abrupt reassignment of all federal staff from the program has created setbacks for legal service providers and EOIR itself, as reported by CBS News,” the groups wrote.
“We urge you to act now to restore the R&A program to full operation,” they added.
