The Washington, D.C.-area offices of nonprofit groups that provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children were recently visited by federal agents in what some of the organizations described as a campaign of intimidation.
Kids In Need of Defense, or KIND, the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, and Ayuda were among those visited June 11 by investigators from Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. HHS is the agency responsible for arranging the care and custody of unaccompanied minors.
However, the agents arrived without search warrants and were turned away by nonprofit groups.
Wendy Young
“This HSI and HHS OIG operation is consistent with ongoing administration efforts targeting nonprofit organizations operating in the immigration space and undermining legal services for unaccompanied children seeking safety in the United States,” KIND President Wendy Young said. “We will not participate in activities that are unsupported by legal warrants or cause.”
The visits coincided with an announcement by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Department of Homeland Secretary Markwayne Mullin that the government is cracking down on about 15,000 “super sponsor” cases in which unrelated adults are sponsoring migrant children who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.
Legal services providers went to court in 2025 when the Trump administration refused to renew $200 million in contracts needed to provide attorneys for migrant children caught up in immigration courts. Plaintiffs won a court order restoring the funding but in many cases have not been compensated for work already completed.
KIND said it is still owed $20 million for services dating back to December and has been told the government “would not release back payments to the nonprofit organizations that are contracted to perform such work until the groups provide information that has never before been requested and risks attorney-client privilege.”
Michael Lukens
The administration’s move against immigrant children continued when authorities visited the offices of nonprofit legal service providers this month, said Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.
“This is a blatant abuse of power to try to intimidate child advocates who have dedicated their lives to advocating for unaccompanied immigrant children,” he said. “The Trump administration’s continued efforts to target immigrant children only shows how little they understand our staff’s unwavering commitment. Every child deserves access to due process and legal representation, and we will not be bullied into abandoning our clients.”
Paula Fitzgerald
Organizations should be able to serve children and families and protect their employees’ safety without fear and disruption, said Ayuda Executive Director Paula Fitzgerald.
“When federal agents show up unannounced at community-based legal service providers, it sends a chilling message to immigrant families who may already be afraid to seek help. No one should be deterred from exercising their legal rights, reporting abuse or seeking support because they fear exposure or pressure to compromise their confidentiality.”
“The fact is that legal service providers like KIND are some of the greatest allies in protecting unaccompanied children in the U.S. immigration system,” Young added. “We help ensure that unaccompanied children comply with immigration requirements under U.S. law, appear for their immigration court hearings and remain in communication with U.S. immigration officials. We are oftentimes these children’s most critical line of defense against trafficking, exploitation and abuse.”
A spokesperson for DHS would not confirm that agents’ appeared at the organizations’ offices but confirmed the agency “is dedicated to locating the 450,000 unaccompanied children that came in through the border under the Biden administration,” ABC News reported.
But that figure has been disputed by immigration advocates and attorneys, the report added. “The claims come from a DHS internal watchdog report from 2024 that found that ICE had not served notices to appear to more than 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children. The internal watchdog warned that in the prior five years, more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children had failed to appear for their immigration court hearings, and ICE was “not able to account” for all their whereabouts.”
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