DeLauro Statement on Trump Administration Denying Legal Services to Migrant Children
WASHINGTON – On July 31, the federal contract between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Acacia Center for Justice, the nonprofit provider of legal services to unaccompanied children in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), lapsed after the Trump administration refused to extend the agreement unless the nonprofit agreed to hand over sensitive case information about the children.
The contract allowed the nonprofit to provide migrant children with legal orientations, legal screenings and representation as their claims are processed through the immigration system. The Trump administration’s latest actions strip access to legal services from more than 20,000 migrant children.
Children who are taken into custody as unaccompanied minors are entitled by US law, as well as by Department of Health and Human Services policy, to humane treatment as well as a quick transition into placement with a sponsor or foster care. While they are in federal custody, they are entitled to legal representation to advocate on their behalf. Nationwide, the average stay of children in ORR detention is now over 200 days, up from 30 days in 2024.
House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) issued the following statement regarding the lapse in legal services funding:
“This is unconscionable. The Trump administration is inflicting cruelty on children as they pursue their radical and inhumane anti-immigration agenda. The Trump administration has lied repeatedly, claiming they are only targeting the ‘worst of the worst’. These are not the worst of the worst – these are children. Frightened, uncertain, alone. And now they are alone in court, in front of a judge despite federal funding that was specifically provided for these services.
“Without access to legal services, these children will be denied due process, or worse, will be forced to languish in government custody. I cannot fathom a more depraved approach to immigration enforcement than deliberately traumatizing children as a deterrent.
“The Trump administration must immediately restore children’s access to legal services while respecting attorney-client privilege, and protecting sensitive information. These children deserve access to the fair consideration they are due under U.S. law and access to independent legal counsel is critical to that process. Children cannot be made to suffer because of this administration’s extreme, radical agenda.”
This comes roughly a year and a half after the Trump Administration first tried to end legal services in February 2025, when it issued an abrupt stop-work order halting federal funding that was overturned by the courts, and eight months after the Trump Administration last reimbursed Acacia and its subcontractors for representation services already provided. In total, Acacia and its subcontractors are still owed $65 million for services already provided.
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