2026年4月23日 / 美国东部时间晚上7:10 / 哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）新闻
据直接了解该项目的消息人士向CBS新闻透露，负责认证非营利组织为低收入移民提供法律援助的美国司法部项目自3月以来未批准任何新申请——此前该项目的律师被悄悄调往其他办公室。
CBS新闻此前曾报道，一个月前，负责运营隶属于司法部移民审查执行办公室的认证与认可项目的资深律师小组在未获解释的情况下被调往附近的移民法院工作。
该认证与认可项目负责为主要在信仰-based法律倡导机构（如天主教慈善机构和犹太家庭服务中心）工作的非律师人员提供认证，使其有权协助移民处理从入籍申请到在司法部移民法院出庭代理等各类事务。
被调岗的司法部律师此前负责该项目的申请续期和新申请审批工作。
其中一位消息人士告诉CBS新闻，该办公室仅有的两名未被调岗的员工是后勤人员，不具备批准或驳回申请的法律权限。自人员调动以来，该办公室每周仍会收到40至60份新申请。
司法部上月在给CBS新闻的一份声明中表示，该项目并未被终止，将继续运行。
司法部发言人未立即回应置评请求。
芝加哥复活项目的能力建设主管罗西奥·普利多对CBS新闻表示，该组织不仅拥有自己的认证代表，还培训其他人成为认证法律代表，并为全州其他团体的法律援助项目提供资金支持。
在CBS新闻上月首次报道司法部办公室遭精简的消息后，该组织与州内合作伙伴召开了紧急电话会议。司法部项目的削减正在阻碍复活项目和其他团体的工作。
“这严重影响了我们的服务体系和提供法律服务的能力，”普利多说。“在伊利诺伊州，我们拥有庞大的无证移民群体，移民法律服务需求极大。仅靠律师无法满足这一需求。”
本周早些时候，参与该项目的330多家非营利组织联名致信代理司法部长托德·布兰奇和移民审查执行办公室主任达伦·马戈林，要求恢复该项目的全面运作。
“2025年，由于人员配备不足，审批时限已延长至6至8个月。如今，该项目所有联邦工作人员突然被调岗，正如CBS新闻所报道的那样，这给法律服务提供商和移民审查执行办公室本身都造成了挫折，”这些团体在信中写道。
“我们敦促你们立即采取行动，恢复认证与认可项目的全面运营，”他们补充道。
Work inside a small DOJ office that helps indigent immigrants get legal aid stalls after personnel shuffle
April 23, 2026 / 7:10 PM EDT / CBS News
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.
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