Judge restores program for mentally incompetent detainees

Source: USA Today

Updated 2:02 p.m. ET


A federal district judge ordered the Trump administration to restore a program to appoint attorneys for people deemed mentally incompetent in deportation hearings. U.S. District Judge Amir Ali ruled July 21 that the sudden end to the program in April caused irreparable harm.

“The action was taken without any record of considering the acute reliance interests and consequences for the administration of justice, the vulnerable population affected, or the ongoing representations that will be disrupted,” Ali wrote.

USA TODAY previously spotlighted the sudden budget cut that upended the $12 million program. It left 289 detainees with active cases suddenly without their attorneys.

The attorneys argued they faced an impossible choice: withdraw from the cases and leave their must vulnerable clients, or keep working for free. Ali wrote that he was ordering the Department of Justice to restore the program, known as providing “qualified representatives” in the short term, but that the department is free to make changes in the future, in his 27-page ruling.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/07/21/judge-restores-program-aiding-mentally-ill-detainees/85309249007/