Learn more about the recent J.O.P. v. DHS Class Action Settlement: J.O.P. v. DHS, No. 19-1944 is a certified nationwide class action venued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland challenging a Trump administration policy that limited the ability to seek asylum for certain children who arrived in the country alone. Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), along with The National Immigration Project, Public Counsel, and Goodwin Procter represent the plaintiffs in this case, who came to the United States as unaccompanied children (UC) and whose asylum applications would have been rejected by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Trump administration policy.
KIND helps immigrant and refugee children who come to the United States without a parent or legal guardian. Most are fleeing pervasive narco-trafficking, human trafficking, and gang violence from which their governments cannot or will not protect them. Others are fleeing severe abuse including sexual and gender-based violence, which includes rape, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, domestic violence, and forced or early marriage. A number have been abandoned or have lost their caregivers. The children range in age from toddlers to teenagers.