HHS brings children’s lawyers in house

The Department of Health and Human Services has created an in-house legal division to advise and represent children who arrive in the United States without a parent or legal guardian. The new division sits within HHS’s Office of the General Counsel; its published mandate includes legal orientation, advice and representation in immigration proceedings. Federal Register, Los Angeles Times

The change follows the administration’s break with the Acacia Center for Justice, whose contract had supported a nationwide network of lawyers for unaccompanied children. HHS says the unit will help reunify children with family and provide legal support; advocates question whether lawyers employed by the department responsible for children’s custody can serve as independent counsel. HHS has not said when the division will begin operating or what role nonprofit providers will retain. AP, Bloomberg Law

A judge blocks the administration’s immigration fines

A federal judge in Boston has stopped the administration from assessing or collecting civil penalties against people who did not leave after final removal orders. The program sought up to $998 a day and applied penalties retroactively, producing notices as large as $1.8 million. Reuters, Public Justice

Judge George O’Toole found the challengers were likely to prevail and that collection could cause irreparable financial harm. His order also stays ICE’s interim rule streamlining civil-penalty procedures while the class action proceeds. court order, Bloomberg Law

Chicago lawsuit challenges Border Patrol shooting

Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen shot five times by a Border Patrol agent during last year’s enforcement operation in Chicago, has sued the federal government. Her attorneys allege that ballistics analysis contradicts the agent’s account that Martinez drove toward him; the Federal Tort Claims Act suit seeks damages, while Martinez also has called for a criminal investigation. Those are allegations in the suit, not judicial findings. WTTW, NBC News, CBS Chicago

The government is the defendant, not the agent. Reporting on the filing says federal prosecutors dismissed the criminal case initially brought against Martinez after the shooting; CBP said the agent was placed on administrative leave and that use-of-force incidents are investigated and reviewed. Chicago Sun-Times, Block Club Chicago

A record of U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents

ProPublica has published a searchable record documenting more than 500 U.S. citizens detained by federal immigration agents during the current administration, including children, teenagers, people questioned about their citizenship and people detained while recording enforcement activity. It is a reporting database, not an official government count, and it makes visible a pattern otherwise scattered across local incidents. ProPublica

Around the system

• New York officials warn that fear could keep immigrants from health care: City health officials say the administration’s expanded public-charge assessment could cause some New Yorkers to avoid Medicaid, food aid and other benefits even when they remain eligible. The rule applies only to some immigration cases, but the concern is that confusion will deter people from seeking care; New York’s Essential Plan continues to cover some groups losing federal Medicaid eligibility. Gothamist

• A disabled asylum seeker alleges neglect in a Pennsylvania county jail: Carlos Moreno says Cambria County Prison failed to provide medical, language and disability accommodations during nearly six months of ICE detention. The prison’s warden said the facility met the federal detention standards; Spotlight PA’s investigation also examines the revenue Pennsylvania county jails receive for ICE detention contracts. Spotlight PA

• A public window into proceedings at 26 Federal Plaza: A new viewing arrangement is giving the public access to immigration proceedings at New York City’s 26 Federal Plaza that otherwise unfold out of public view. Documented

• Colorado voters will weigh a broader channel to ICE: Amendment 81 would require Colorado law enforcement agencies to notify ICE about some people charged with crimes when officers know they lack lawful status or cannot determine status within 72 hours. The measure would not repeal Colorado’s sanctuary laws outright, but it would expand required contact with ICE; opponents warn of racial profiling and other consequences. The Denver Post

• Harvard’s international-student case reaches the appeals court: The First Circuit heard the administration’s continuing effort to block international students from enrolling at Harvard. Lower-court orders have kept students enrolled while the appeal proceeds, as the administration argues it may use national-security authority against the university and Harvard calls that theory an unprecedented threat to other institutions. The Boston Globe