Trump administration orders lawyers for unaccompanied migrant minors to stop their work

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This story was produced in collaboration with the Texas Newsroom, a public radio journalism collaboration that includes NPR, KERA in North Texas, Houston Public Media, KUT in Austin, Texas Public Radio in San Antonio and other stations across the state.

The U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday ordered lawyers hired to represent unaccompanied children to stop working.

Texas Public Radio reviewed the stop work order sent to attorneys under a contract with Acacia Center for Justice, the prime contact for unaccompanied minors’ legal services.

The organization said in a statement that it represents nearly 26,000 children. Shaina Aber, the center's executive director, said that “This decision flies in the face of decades of work and bipartisan cooperation spent ensuring children who have been trafficked or are at risk of trafficking have child-friendly legal representatives protecting their legal rights and interests."

The attorneys, who are responsible for helping vulnerable children access services and apply for protected status, are the latest contractors who have been affected by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The controversial DOGE has impacted tens of thousands of government workers, and many of its actions have been challenged in the courts.

The stop order is indefinite, and it prevents thousands of children both in and outside of the shelter system from accessing attorneys. Children who cross the border without parents are often the victims of trauma, and the order will delay resolutions to their cases as well as stability.

“People like Thomas Homan state that they care about children and want to protect them from trafficking,” said Jonathan Ryan, an immigration attorney in San Antonio affected by the order, criticizing the Trump administration’s border czar. “This lays bare the cynical lies he tells the American people. What he really wants to do is hurt children and separate families.”

Ryan expressed concern for many of his clients — one of which he believes is actively being labor trafficked.

Acacia Center for Justice became the main contract holder contract from the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s Unaccompanied Children Program. The potential end date for the $1.1 billion contract had been August 2026.

Kids in Need of Defense, another legal nonprofit, was also ordered to stop providing services to children as well as assisting in finding pro-bono representation.

In a release the organization said it hindered the work that helped children — sometimes at no cost to the government.

“We urge the administration to prioritize evaluating this unaccompanied-children’s program and immediately reinstate this funding, which supports vital work to protect unaccompanied children, some as young as toddlers, against trafficking, exploitation, and other abuses that make them easy prey for those who would do them harm.”

The Office of Refugee Resettlement did not respond to TPR's request for comment.

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