Lawmakers: “Every day without access to counsel is another day in which vulnerable children face grave danger by human traffickers, abusers, or other bad actors, without an advocate at their side.”
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) led 30 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, demanding that the Trump Administration continue legal services for unaccompanied children caught up in the immigration system as required by law. Last month, the Trump Administration issued a stop work order to organizations that provide legal services for unaccompanied children. Later that week, following public pressure, the order was rescinded. In 2023, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Fair Day in Court for Kids Act, legislation to provide unaccompanied children with access to legal representation when they appear in proceedings before an immigration judge
“Pausing or terminating the provision of legal services to unaccompanied children under this contract runs directly counter to the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and places 26,000 unaccompanied children at increased risk of trafficking, exploitation, and other harm,” the Senators wrote. “The TVPRA, passed by Congress in 2008 on a bipartisan basis, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that all unaccompanied children have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.”
According to a report by the Guardian this month, the organizations affected by the previous stop work order provide legal counsel for around 26,000 unaccompanied minors.
“Cutting off access to legal services makes it more likely that the government will lose track of unaccompanied children, given the challenges such children would face in independently appearing for immigration court hearings, submitting address updates, or otherwise communicating with immigration authorities,” the lawmakers continued. “Not only will this make children more vulnerable to trafficking, but it will also create further inefficiencies in an already backlogged immigration court system.”
“Every day without access to counsel is another day in which vulnerable children face grave danger by human traffickers, abusers, or other bad actors, without an advocate at their side,” the lawmakers concluded.
In addition to Senators Hirono and Ossoff, the letter is signed by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The full text of the letter is available here and below.
Dear Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Burgum:
We write to express our strong opposition to the February 18, 2025 stop work order issued regarding your agencies’ contract for the provision of legal services for unaccompanied children. Although the order has now been rescinded, we are concerned about the chaos and confusion it caused for legal services providers and the children they serve. Any disruption to services for unaccompanied children is alarming, particularly in light of recent reports of the administration’s intent to place unaccompanied children into removal proceedings.
Pausing or terminating the provision of legal services to unaccompanied children under this contract runs directly counter to the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and places 26,000 unaccompanied children at increased risk of trafficking, exploitation, and other harm. The TVPRA, passed by Congress in 2008 on a bipartisan basis, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that all unaccompanied children have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking. Shirking this statutory mandate heightens the risk of harm for these uniquely vulnerable children.
Access to legal services often provides unaccompanied children their only hope for a fair legal process. Unaccompanied children’s age, developmental stage, and communication and comprehension constraints make it virtually impossible for them to effectively navigate the complex and adversarial immigration system without an attorney at their side. The government-funded legal services provided under this contract are, in many cases, the only thing preventing a two or three-year-old unaccompanied child from facing court proceedings alone against a government attorney seeking their deportation.
Attorneys are vital to unaccompanied children’s comprehension of and compliance with immigration requirements and processes. From fiscal year (FY) 2005 through June of FY 2019, 98 percent of juveniles placed in removal proceedings who were represented by a lawyer appeared for their hearings. Cutting off access to legal services makes it more likely that the government will lose track of unaccompanied children, given the challenges such children would face in independently appearing for immigration court hearings, submitting address updates, or otherwise communicating with immigration authorities. Not only will this make children more vulnerable to trafficking, but it will also create further inefficiencies in an already backlogged immigration court system. Moreover, attorneys help children understand their options and are often in a position to facilitate prompt voluntary departures, where appropriate.
For these reasons, we urge you to publicly commit to maintaining this contract. We further request a briefing about why the contract was paused and your plan for compliance with your statutory mandate to ensure that children have counsel in immigration proceedings.
Every day without access to counsel is another day in which vulnerable children face grave danger by human traffickers, abusers, or other bad actors, without an advocate at their side. Thank you for your consideration of this critical issue.
Sincerely,
###