Immigrant Defenders Law Center Calls on Trump Administration to Stop Dismantling Legal Representation for Unaccompanied Children

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 30, 2026

Contact:

Media@immdef.org

Administration's refusal to pay for congressionally funded legal services puts over 20,000 children at risk of accelerated deportation

Los Angeles, CA — Federal contracts that support legal services for unaccompanied immigrant children are set to expire on July 31, threatening to leave tens of thousands of vulnerable children without an attorney and without a meaningful opportunity to present their cases in immigration court. By refusing to pay the Acacia Center for Justice and its nationwide network of nearly 100 legal service providers for work already performed, and allowing the current contract to lapse, the Trump administration is laying the groundwork to strip more than 20,000 children of due process. These children include survivors of violence, trafficking, persecution, and abuse who have legal rights under U.S. law and whose futures may depend on their ability to access counsel. 

ImmDef is the largest deportation defense nonprofit law firm in Southern California and currently represents over 1500 unaccompanied children. Every day, ImmDef’s attorneys sit across from children who have fled violence, persecution, trafficking, abandonment, and abuse, and one thing is very clear: since the beginning of this administration, the Office of Refugee Resettlement has discarded its child welfare mandate and turned itself instead into an instrument of mass deportation.   

For nearly two decades, under administrations of both political parties, Congress has funded legal representation for unaccompanied children because of the unique vulnerabilities they face and the complexity of immigration proceedings. The evidence is overwhelming: children with legal representation are significantly more likely to understand their rights, appear in court, and obtain the legal protections for which they qualify. Without an attorney, children succeed in their cases at dramatically lower rates and are far more likely to be ordered deported. Some of these children are too young to read legal documents, speak for themselves in court, or understand the proceedings determining their future. Yet without continued funding, they will be forced to face trained government attorneys alone, often in a language they do not speak and within a legal system they cannot reasonably be expected to navigate.

Lindsay Toczylowski, CEO and Co-founder of Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) shared, "At a moment when the public is demanding answers and accountability about the government's handling of the Epstein files and its failures to protect children from exploitation and abuse, this administration is choosing to take legal protections away from vulnerable children who need them most. The Trump administration wants immigration court to be a place where children lose. That's the only explanation for taking lawyers away from kids who have already survived violence, trafficking, and abuse. Rather than face their fearless advocates in court, Trump and Stephen Miller's strategy is to strip children of due process and accelerate their deportation. When the government takes away a child's lawyer, it is taking away that child's chance to survive.”

Marion "Mickey" Donovan-Kaloust, Director of Legal Services at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) shared, "The Administration is trying to reach Stephen Miller’s deportation targets on the backs of children—children who should be hearing bedtime stories and playing with their friends, not going into court to face an immigration judge all alone.  It is no coincidence that just as the administration continues to systematically strip protections for children—trapping them in government custody away from their families, expediting their deportations, ignoring findings that they’ve been trafficked or abused—that they’re also taking their lawyers away.  Lawyers who have worked hard to earn their trust, who have fought for them, and who have stood by them in their times of greatest need.  Like the Coronavirus pandemic, we will be seeing the impact of this epidemic of cruelty on children’s development and wellbeing for years to come.”

Alvaro M. Huerta, Director of Litigation and Advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) shared, " The administration is blatantly violating a federal court order meant to ensure that unaccompanied children have the legal counsel they need to protect their rights under laws passed by Congress almost 20 years ago. Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and their cronies give a lot of lip service to claims that they’re somehow protecting children, but actions speak louder than words and the American people can see right through them.  Miller and Trump care more about fulfilling deportation quotas than they do about defending vulnerable kids."

Immigrant Defenders Law Center calls on the Trump administration to immediately release all outstanding payments, honor the congressionally funded contract for legal services, and ensure uninterrupted representation for the more than 20,000 unaccompanied children who depend on this program.

There is still time to reverse course. For these children, every day without counsel puts their safety, rights, and futures at risk.

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The Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) is a next-generation social justice law firm that defends immigrant communities against injustices in the immigration system. Our programs are a first step towards realizing the long-term goal of providing universal representation to all immigrants facing deportation. ImmDef is now the largest non‐profit, pro bono provider of deportation defense in California, with offices in Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Ana, and San Diego.