Legal aid lapse raises deportation fears for migrant children

A federal contract that pays for legal help for unaccompanied migrant children expired Friday, raising alarms among advocates and prosecutors who say thousands of minors could be pushed through deportation proceedings without lawyers.

The contract funded about 100 legal groups nationwide that serve roughly 24,000 children who entered the United States without documentation or a legal guardian, according to Al Jazeera. The groups also used the contract to enter government-funded shelters to meet with and represent their young clients. Advocates said it was unclear whether they would still have access after the contract lapses.

“We have no understanding of what’s going to happen to those children come next week,” Melissa Lopez, executive director of Estrella El Paso, said at a news conference this week. “We don’t know if they’re going to have legal representation. The government as of yet has not identified who will take over this representation.”

The dispute comes as the Trump administration has moved to speed up immigration court proceedings as part of a broader deportation push. Current and former prosecutors accused the administration of undermining legal protections for child migrants by fast-tracking cases and limiting access to lawyers who could help them seek relief from removal, including protections available to trafficking and domestic violence survivors.

“By arresting and deporting survivors who have come forward and applied for protection, the Administration not only risks endangering the survivor and their family members, but the Government also sends a chilling message to the larger community: don’t call the police, don’t report crime – you or your loved ones will get deported,” 10 current and former prosecutors wrote Wednesday in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security. “This undermines public safety for us all.”

Federal laws have long provided protections for immigrant children, including measures intended to shield them from removal when they face safety risks or may testify against abusers or human traffickers. Al Jazeera reported that the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 says the government should facilitate legal representation for children in deportation proceedings. Children may also apply for protected status if they cannot return home because of abuse or neglect.

The Acacia Center for Justice, the contractor administering the legal services program, said the Trump administration stopped paying in December and that the federal government owes it about $65 million, The Guardian reported. Legal service providers said the administration also demanded detailed client information, which they said they could not ethically provide. Providers have argued that turning over such information could violate attorney-client privilege.

“They are clearly trying to destroy the program by grinding down the financial health of nonprofits. We’ve seen layoffs and furloughs, and we will see a lot more of that if these invoices aren’t paid,” said Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Center.

The Department of Health and Human Services, whose Office of Refugee Resettlement cares for unaccompanied minors, told The Guardian it has tried several times to establish a new contract but was blocked by protests before the Government Accountability Office. “The office of refugee resettlement works to ensure the safety, well-being, and appropriate care of all children in its custody,” HHS said, adding that the office “remains fully compliant with its legal and regulatory obligations and does not act in any way that could dissuade a child from seeking appropriate legal relief.”

HHS also said it offered Acacia a second bridge contract requiring data on whom providers represent and billing when immigration relief applications are submitted, but that Acacia declined. Al Jazeera reported that HHS did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment on its policy going forward.

The standoff has already affected legal groups. Kids in Need of Defense, a nonprofit subcontractor with Acacia, said last month it would stop working through the program after accumulating $20 million in unpaid fees, The Guardian reported.

Meanwhile, immigration judges have issued about 10,000 removal and voluntary departure orders each month against unaccompanied minors since Trump returned to the White House, The Guardian reported, citing ProPublica. That is about four times the rate during his first term.

“These laws were enacted to protect survivors. What ICE is doing right now is completely upending that,” said Maggy Krell, a California assembly member and former prosecutor who signed the DHS letter. “We’re talking about really traumatized kids here and other crime victims who are asking for help – and we’re locking them up and deporting them.”