US Terminates Legal Contracts for 20,000 Migrant Children

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services terminated a three-year, $65 million contract with the Acacia Center for Justice on July 31, 2026, leaving approximately 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children without legal representation. The federal government has reportedly withheld over $65 million in congressionally appropriated funding, with some providers remaining unpaid for five or six months.

Legal providers allege the administration attempted to coerce them into disclosing confidential, privileged client-level data in exchange for bridge contracts. The Acacia Center for Justice refused these terms on ethical grounds, while advocacy groups warn that the lack of counsel pushes vulnerable minors into a deportation machinery. In response to the funding gap, nonprofits including Estrella del Paso, Mid-South Immigration Advocates, and Americans for Immigrant Justice have ceased accepting new clients, furloughed staff, or closed physical offices.

The Justice Department has requested assistance from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission to represent these minors, although the commission noted the work falls outside its expertise. The Department of Health and Human Services maintains that its Office of Refugee Resettlement remains compliant with legal and regulatory obligations and that the primary contract simply expired.