CHC Chair Statement on AG Sessions Reversal on Halting the Legal Orientation Program
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April 25, 2018
Washington, D.C. - Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chairwoman Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01) released the following statement after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), will continue the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) while the department conducts a review of the program, rather than suspend it as planned:
"Attorney General Sessions' announcement that he would not halt the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) is a step in the right direction. The LOP not only provides critical and even life-saving information to immigrants about their rights, it also saves taxpayers millions of dollars by improving the efficiency of our immigration court system. The LOP is a proven success and I urge the Attorney General to cancel any needless program reviews that may be used to attempt to undermine this critical program, which enjoys broad, bipartisan support. Additionally, I want to thank the Members of Congress, especially Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán, and the organizations who quickly called out the DOJ's reckless decision and pushed for its immediate reversal."
On April 24, 2018, Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), led by Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA), sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions seeking an immediate reversal of his decision to suspend the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) and the Immigration Court HelpDesk (ICH). See letter and release here.
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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), founded in December 1976, is organized as a Congressional Member organization, governed under the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. The CHC is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics in the United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.