More than 25,000 unaccompanied immigrant children in the United States lost access to free legal representation on Friday after the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) declined to renew its contract with the network of nonprofit legal providers that had represented vulnerable minors in immigration court for over two decades.
The contract, held by the Acacia Center for Justice, had funded legal aid organizations representing unaccompanied minors who arrive at the U.S. border alone. Its expiration marks the first time in more than 20 years that the federal government has not maintained such an arrangement, leaving thousands of children to potentially face immigration judges without any counsel.
Kids in Need of Defense, one of the largest organizations involved in the network, said last month it was canceling its subcontract with the Acacia Center after the center had accrued more than $20 million in unpaid legal fees. The financial dispute added to growing concerns that the government was deliberately letting the legal aid pipeline dry up as part of its broader immigration enforcement agenda.
Approximately 90 legal aid organizations nationwide were affected by the contract’s expiration. Advocates warn that the consequences will be severe, as many of these children do not speak English fluently, have no understanding of the U.S. legal system, and face complex asylum proceedings that even trained attorneys struggle to navigate.
Critics of the administration’s immigration policies have pointed to the contract non-renewal as part of a deliberate strategy to discourage asylum seekers and speed up deportations. Senator Bernie Sanders called the move part of a broader pattern, stating that the administration is actively undermining protections for the most vulnerable people in the immigration system.
Immigration legal experts note that children with legal representation are far more likely to have their cases properly adjudicated and are significantly less likely to be deported. Studies have shown that unaccompanied minors represented by attorneys obtain relief in immigration court at dramatically higher rates than those without counsel.
The timing of the contract’s expiration, coinciding with the administration’s aggressive border enforcement policies and the ongoing debate over the SAVE America Act, underscores the political stakes of immigration policy heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Advocacy groups are now scrambling to find alternative funding sources, though the scale of the gap left by the federal contract’s loss is enormous.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the ORR, has not publicly commented on why the contract was not renewed. Legal aid organizations say they received no advance notice of the decision and are now forced to lay off staff and reduce services at a time when demand is at record levels.
NPR: More Than 25,000 Children Lose Legal Protections, LA Times: 24,000 Migrant Children Could Lose Legal Representation, Washington Post: Thousands of Children on Verge of Losing Legal Representation
Author: USA Desk
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