In a shift from established protocols, the Trump administration will now provide government-employed lawyers for unaccompanied migrant children, raising questions about independence and legal representation.
The courtroom showdowns for unaccompanied migrant children are undergoing a fundamental change, with the Trump administration moving to staff the defense side of these cases with its own government attorneys.
This shift. formalized in a Federal Register announcement last week. moves representation into a newly created Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division housed within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). For years, this role was filled by a network of independent nonprofits. That arrangement ended this year when the administration allowed the contracts to expire after the network refused to hand over privileged information regarding their young clients.
For many, the stakes go beyond procedural changes. These children—some very young, all vulnerable—are often navigating legal systems while facing risks of trafficking or abuse. The Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act mandates that these minors receive independent legal counsel. With the new HHS division. the government will effectively manage both the prosecution and the defense in immigration court. as the Department of Justice oversees immigration judges and the Department of Homeland Security manages deportation attorneys.
Ana Raquel Devereaux, an attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, voiced the concerns felt by many legal advocates. She worries the new structure renders the defense side of the courtroom a “farce. ” where the government’s left hand may be working in concert with its right hand to secure removals rather than advocacy. The department has not specified when these new government lawyers will begin their courtroom duties.
This move follows months of instability. In August, the original nonprofit contract expired. A subsequent contract went to the Burke Law Group. a small Texas firm with ties to the first and second Trump administrations. but the firm withdrew after public backlash. The administration then attempted to contract with Our Rescue—a nonprofit founded by a former ICE agent with no history of child legal representation—before that deal stalled following a bid protest by the Acacia Center for Justice. Another contract was awarded to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. but court filings indicate those lawyers frequently remained silent during hearings. leaving children without active defense.
This reorganization occurs as the Office of Refugee Resettlement. which houses children until they are reunited with sponsors. faces growing scrutiny. Recent reporting shows the agency is detaining children for significantly longer periods and holding some who are not technically unaccompanied. While the administration maintains that the new division provides a mechanism for legal support. advocates recall past attempts to remove children. such as the effort to fly Guatemalan minors out of the country in the middle of the night—a move stopped only by court intervention. Recent data suggests unaccompanied minors are being detained and removed at three times the rate observed during the first Trump term.
Roxana Avila-Cimpeanu. deputy director of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. noted that existing federal protections were built on the necessity of experienced. child-centered advocacy. By fracturing the network that previously existed. the administration has left the future of these children in an increasingly centralized system. with critics warning that the promise of legal representation is being hollowed out by the very entity seeking to deport them.
Trump administration migrant children immigration court HHS legal representation unaccompanied minors immigration policy