US unaccompanied children legal aid lapse

A federal contract that funded nearly 100 nonprofit organizations to provide legal representation for roughly 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children expired on July 31, 2026. The agreement had allowed attorneys to enter government‑run shelters and appear for the youths in immigration court. With the contract’s termination, advocates warned that thousands of children could lose counsel, sharply raising their risk of deportation.

In early August, officials from the Office of Refugee Resettlement confirmed that about $65 million in reimbursements to the Acacia Center for Justice – the entity that distributes the funding – had been withheld. Critics, including the Acacia Center’s executive director and representatives from Legal Services for Children, described the move as a “blatant attack” on the children’s wellbeing and warned that without attorneys fewer than 10 % of the minors are likely to secure relief. The Trump administration offered no explanation for the lapse and has not commented on future policy for legal representation of these children.

Democratic members of Congress have raised concerns that the loss of the contract could leave the entire cohort of unaccompanied minors without federally funded legal support, potentially accelerating removals and exposing them to further trauma.