The Trump administration has again stopped payments to attorneys representing unaccompanied minors in immigration courts.
This time, the lawyers were notified the contract was terminated.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ordered attorneys to stop work under the contract on Friday. It was the second time in just over a month.
The contract affects more than 26,000 children who have been described as some of the most vulnerable in the nation.
“Particularly at a time when the administration is expediting removal proceedings that force people through our nation’s deportation system at an alarming rate, legal services for vulnerable children are more crucial than ever,” said Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, in a statement. Acacia is the contractor holder for the services.
The department paused the contract last month under the direction of the cost-cutting entity known as DOGE. The money was restored the same week.
This time the contract, which was set to either expire or be renewed, has been partially terminated. It wasn’t clear if attorneys will be reimbursed for the children they already represent.
Jonathan Ryan, managing attorney for Advokato, a subcontracting legal nonprofit, described the Trump administration’s strategy as attacking kids on two sides.
“It's a pincer move to first step up the enforcement and increase the deportation activities against these children, while simultaneously removing the defense attorneys that they would need in order to preserve any of their rights in that process,” he said.
Ryan said most attorneys with current child clients will continue their work even with the possibility of not being paid, but the move cuts them off from future children in immigration detention.
The termination came as the administration moves to put unaccompanied minors on a “Rocket Docket” to deportation, said the Acacia Center's news release. It is a fast track to danger.
The children these lawyers represent have often suffered severe trauma making the journey — some have been trafficked — and the decision puts them in danger of being trafficked again.
"What's happened is just like taking the parachutes away from children before you push them off the airplane,” Ryan said.
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