Burke Law Group awarded $150 M to represent migrant children

The U.S. federal government has awarded a $150 million contract to the Houston‑based Burke Law Group, a small Texas law firm whose primary focus is corporate environmental and regulatory matters. Only two of the firm’s 24 attorneys specialize in immigration and asylum law.

The contract is intended to provide legal representation for roughly 1,800 unaccompanied migrant children housed in Department of Health and Human Services shelters. It replaces funding that previously supported about 100 legal groups serving more than 20,000 children, leaving thousands of minors outside the shelter system without clear representation.

Immigrant‑rights advocates have expressed concern. Roxana Avila‑Cimpeanu, deputy director of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, said, “Instead of taking care of these children, the government is instead implementing things such as awarding a contract to a private small law firm in Texas with no discernible experience in relevant immigration law or child welfare.” Melissa Lopez, executive director of Estrella El Paso, added, “We have no understanding of what’s going to happen to those children… we don’t know if they’re going to have legal representation.”