Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children could lose legal representation this week
Summary
Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. face losing their legal representation this week because the government contract for nonprofit legal groups is expiring. The government has withheld $65 million in payments, demanding confidential information about the children, which the groups refuse to give.Key Facts
- A federal contract for nonprofits providing legal help to over 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children expires this Friday.
- The contract is managed by the Acacia Center for Justice, which oversees over 100 service providers.
- The government, through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), has withheld $65 million in payments.
- ORR wants the nonprofits to provide confidential client data and bill for immigration relief applications.
- The nonprofits say sharing this confidential data is illegal and refused to comply.
- Legal groups have started furloughs, cannot hire or keep experienced staff, and many children are losing their lawyers.
- A federal judge set a hearing for August 6 to address the payment and contract issues.
- During the Trump administration, legal groups said migrant children and sponsors were targeted under immigration policies.
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