Editor’s note: Late Friday, Feb. 21, the Trump administration appears to have rescinded its stop-work order and will allow legal representation for unaccompanied minors to resume. We will update this story as more information becomes available.
As part of its crackdown on immigrant rights, the Trump administration has issued a stop-work order to legal firms representing tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors who crossed the border without parents.
These children — some too young to speak for themselves and all unprepared to act as their own lawyers in court — have been the subject of numerous news reports in recent years. A common theme in their stories is that parents have sent them on their own — often with other groups — to the United States in hopes their children might connect with a relative here and find a better life.
“This heart-wrenching decision leaves thousands of innocent and vulnerable children without legal representation, exposing them to unimaginable dangers of trafficking, abuse, and exploitation,” said a news release from Americans for Immigrant Justice. “These children undertake the dangerous journey to the United States out of necessity, to reunite with loved ones and seek safety, often from persecution and organized crime. It is our duty as a nation to protect their basic human rights and ensure due process.”
“This heart-wrenching decision leaves thousands of innocent and vulnerable children without legal representation.”
Americans for Immigrant Justice is one of several groups working to provide legal representation to these children. Its work is based in the Office of Refugee Resettlement in South Florida.
In 2024, AI Justice provided legal help and resources to 6,794 children.
“This sudden suspension of legal services is an extreme setback to due process and disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable children, many of whom have endured severe trauma,” the news release said. “AI Justice and legal service providers across the country face a crisis. The children we represent will suffer irreparable harm without our continued legal representation. Despite this unexpected and devastating directive, we remain committed to standing by these children and assisting them in their legal process.”
Acacia Center for Justice is the largest provider of legal services for unaccompanied minors, representing nearly 26,000 children.
Shaina Aber
“This decision flies in the face of decades of work and bipartisan cooperation spent ensuring children who have been trafficked or are at risk of trafficking have child-friendly legal representatives protecting their legal rights and interests,” said Shaina Aber, executive director at Acacia.
Kids in Need of Defense is another legal nonprofit ordered to stop providing services to children through pro-bono representation.
“We urge the administration to prioritize evaluating this unaccompanied-children’s program and immediately reinstate this funding, which supports vital work to protect unaccompanied children, some as young as toddlers, against trafficking, exploitation and other abuses that make them easy prey for those who would do them harm,” the group said.
The Texas Tribune quoted Jonathan Ryan, an immigration attorney in San Antonio affected by the order: “People like Thomas Homan state that they care about children and want to protect them from trafficking. This lays bare the cynical lies he tells the American people. What he really wants to do is hurt children and separate families.”
Homan is Trump’s new border czar leading the fight against immigrants that includes ICE raids in churches and sending undocumented immigrants to Guantanamo Bay.
The stop-work order came Feb. 18 from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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