Your tax dollars, hard at work.

Via USA Today:

The Obama administration is set to take another step to help young children caught crossing the southwest border without their parents, creating a program to provide them with lawyers as they make their way through immigration court.

The Department of Justice, working with the federal Corporation for National and Community Service, will announce a new program Friday that provides $2 million to entice attorneys and paralegals to represent those young, undocumented immigrants as they navigate the complicated web of immigration courts.

Unlike legal residents or citizens, undocumented immigrants are not guaranteed legal assistance in court, so the task is currently done by attorneys working for non-profit organizations or working pro bono. But with the country seeing a drastic rise in the number of very young undocumented immigrants crossing the border — without their parents, usually led by a smuggler — officials say those groups can no longer handle the flood of cases.

“We’re taking a historic step to strengthen our justice system and protect the rights of the most vulnerable members of society,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “How we treat those in need, particularly young people who must appear in immigration proceedings — many of whom are fleeing violence, persecution, abuse or trafficking — goes to the core of who we are as a nation.”