For decades and across presidential administrations, the federal government has supported legal services for unaccompanied children as part of efforts to implement key safeguards in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA), the Flores Settlement, and related policies and regulations. These protections, developed through broad bipartisan support, are designed to help children navigate a complex immigration system and ensure children are not returned to trafficking or other harm.
On February 18, 2025, funding for these legal services contracts (covering more than 26,000 child cases) was halted nationwide (for review and reconsideration) by the current Administration. Three days later the administration rescinded the stop-work order, restoring legal services for now. However, they could choose not to renew contracts with organizations that provide these services, leaving children vulnerable again.
Let’s tell our elected officials that the safety of migrant children is an area we’re not willing to compromise. All children should be protected from the vulnerabilities of trafficking and exploration.
Here’s an idea of what to say when you call:
Hi, I’m ____. And I live in _____. I’m a Christian who is concerned about vulnerable kids. I was alarmed to hear about the suspension of funding for legal service contracts for unaccompanied children—including those separated from an immigrant parent or legal guardian.
I urge you to prioritize the protection of these migrant children by ensuring that the funding for the contract to provide essential legal services for children stays intact for safeguards and legal representation for unaccompanied children.
Thank you for your time and attention to this urgent matter. I appreciate your leadership and commitment to safeguarding children in need regardless of citizenship status.
More Information
- After careful consideration of ways to prevent and mitigate the trafficking and exploitation of unaccompanied children, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2008 on a sweeping bipartisan basis.
- In recognition of the central role that attorneys play in combatting trafficking and exploitation of unaccompanied children, the TVPRA directs that, “[t]he Secretary of Health and Human Services shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable…that all unaccompanied alien children…have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings or matters and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.”
- The Trump Administration and Members of Congress across the political spectrum have committed to safeguarding unaccompanied children from trafficking and exploitation, and the provision of legal services for these children remains one of the most important measures the U.S. federal government can take to achieve this shared aim.
- The Trump administration and many Members of Congress have expressed grave concern over instances when unaccompanied children have not appeared for immigration court hearings, when immigration agencies don’t have unaccompanied children’s updated addresses on file, or when these children otherwise do not remain in touch with immigration authorities.
- Yet because attorneys are vital to unaccompanied children’s comprehension of and compliance with immigration requirements and processes, the stop work order will ensure that many of the 26K impacted unaccompanied children effectively cannot and will not appear for immigration court hearings, submit address updates, or otherwise communicate with immigration authorities – outcomes contrary to the administration’s stated objectives.
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Unaccompanied children often do not understand what immigration court even is, much less the necessity to appear before it. By contrast, the evidence demonstrates that children with attorneys overwhelmingly satisfy immigration court hearing requirements. From FY 2005 through June FY 2019—the most recent relevant data available—98 percent of children with lawyers appeared for their hearings, helping ensure that these children remain within the U.S immigration system and in contact with EOIR and ICE as appropriate.
- Attorneys are also essential to ensuring appropriate address updates with U.S. immigration agencies when unaccompanied children change residences. These updates generally require completion of online and/or paper forms—from ICE’s “Online Change of Address Form” to EOIR’s Form-33—that adults often have difficulty navigating. Attorneys aid unaccompanied children’s comprehension and submission of these forms in a timely and accurate fashion so that immigration agencies are properly notified of relocations.
- By preventing waste and limiting operational burdens on ICE and EOIR personnel alike, attorneys for unaccompanied children are essential to driving efficiencies that are needed more than ever in the face of the immigration court system’s nearly 4 million case backlog.