More than 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant youth remain at risk of losing their legal representation, one month after the Trump administration ended a federal contract with an organization that provided legal services to migrant children. The Acacia Center for Justice and its network of 100 nonprofits have continued to represent the children without pay, but unaccompanied immigrant children who have been placed into federal custody since the contract expired after July 31 are likely without attorneys as they appear in immigration court.
According to Michael Lukens, the executive director of the Amica Center for Justice, which is part of Acacia’s network, many nonprofits are not taking on new cases. Lukens said, “We have not closed any case of a child we were already representing — that obviously is not a sustainable model. We feel both ethically and morally obligated to continue as long as we can.”
The situation is particularly dire for immigrant children without legal representation. Without a lawyer, fewer than 10% of immigrant children win the right to remain in the United States while their cases go through immigration court. Roxana Avila-Cimpeanu, the deputy director of Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, said the organization is currently representing 600 children, and cannot represent several children who have recently arrived in Arizona, where the group is based.
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Nationwide Impact Grows
Avila-Cimpeanu noted that this is a nationwide issue, saying, “This is something that is happening across the nation.” The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, which cares for unaccompanied children, let a contract with Acacia for legal services expire July 31.
The Acacia Center for Justice has a network of roughly 100 organizations it works with that provide legal aid and representation to immigrant children across the country in their immigration court appearances. Acacia has provided legal services for unaccompanied minors for decades. Additionally, since December, HHS has not released $65 million that Congress appropriated for legal representation of unaccompanied children in immigration cases.
Leaders of Acacia have said the funds were withheld because attorneys refused to hand over to the Trump administration sensitive case data from the unaccompanied children, such as medical records and the types of legal relief the minors are seeking. After the contract expired in July, HHS initially awarded a single $150 million contract to a small Texas firm, headed by a former Trump official who served during the first administration.
New Contract Raises Concerns
However, the law firm backed out of the contract, and in August, the Trump administration awarded a $158 million no-bid contract to Our Rescue, a Utah-based company that was previously known as Operation Underground Railroad. The group was founded by Tim Ballard, who presented it as an “anti-sex-trafficking” organization, but it’s unclear if there are any immigration attorneys on staff, and the group does not have a history of providing legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant youth in immigration court.
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Bilal Askaryar, the communications director for Acacia, said Our Rescue has not been in contact with Acacia to transfer over case information. Avila-Cimpeanu also said she has not heard from Our Rescue to start the transition process for representing the children’s cases, saying, “I think it’s very unclear what their role is.”
The contract with Our Rescue will run from Aug. 7 until Feb. 6, 2027, according to its award. They did not respond to requests for comment. As the situation remains uncertain, the lack of legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant children continues to be a concern, with many advocating for a solution to ensure these children receive the legal aid they need.
The uncertainty surrounding the contract with Our Rescue is further complicated by the organization’s background, which includes a history of controversy and a lack of experience in providing legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant youth. The organization’s founder, Tim Ballard, has been accused of sexual misconduct, and the group’s current leadership and staff are not well-established in the field of immigration law, raising concerns about their ability to provide effective representation to the children.