The Trump administration will both detain migrant children and defend them in court

The Donald Trump administration is creating a team of federal attorneys to represent unaccompanied migrant children (UACs) in their asylum cases. Few details have been released about how the unit will be staffed or operate, but independent organizations that have provided such legal services until now see a clear conflict of interest. Although the new division within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is being presented as independent, the same administration responsible for the children’s custody — and that is pursuing policies aimed at increasing deportations of minors — would also be tasked with defending their cases before immigration judges.

“It is essential that children have independent, experienced lawyers who put their needs first and act in their best interests, not according to this administration’s deportation agenda,” says Bettina Rodríguez Schlegel, chief of staff at Acacia Center for Justice. “Putting legal representation for unaccompanied children in the hands of the very agency that keeps them in federal immigration custody is an unprecedented move that breaches basic standards of defense independence, a core requirement in legal representation.”

Acacia is the organization that previously received federal funding to provide legal representation for unaccompanied migrant children entering the United States and administered those funds through agreements with roughly 100 legal service providers. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, his administration has repeatedly sought to eliminate funding for legal representation for migrant children, but court orders have required the government to continue the program. The contract with Acacia expired on July 31 and has not been renewed. Instead, the administration awarded the contract to Our Rescue, an organization with no prior experience representing these children.

The Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division (UACLRD) will provide “direct legal advice and guidance to UACs,” according to a notice published in the Federal Register on September 29. The measure, which received little publicity and largely escaped public attention, bears the signature of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “UACLRD attorneys may provide such representation throughout the course of an individual UAC’s immigration proceedings, as appropriate,” the notice states.

Unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the United States have been the target of repeated actions by the Trump administration. In addition to efforts to strip them of access to legal representation, detentions and deportations have increased, while immigration courts have fast-tracked cases in which children often appear without fully understanding the proceedings they face. The government has also imposed additional vetting requirements on relatives or sponsors willing to take custody of them, requiring proof of their immigration status before a child can be released into their care. As a result, many potential sponsors have withdrawn, fearing they could themselves face detention or deportation.

A recent report by Acacia found that, before January 2025, children held in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is part of HHS, spent an average of 30 days in government care. Since Trump’s return to office, that average has risen to 170 days. Child health experts have warned of the physical and psychological toll prolonged detention can take on minors.

Illegal detentions

The same report shows that, since the start of Trump’s second term, the number of habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of these children has surged by 3,500% compared with the total filed during the previous administration, between 2021 and 2024. A habeas corpus petition is used to challenge the legality of a person’s detention and has traditionally been associated with criminal cases.

Being in government custody does not necessarily mean that a child does not have a relative or sponsor willing to take them in. One of the earliest cases involved a minor who spent 186 days in federal custody. After a habeas corpus petition was filed on the child’s behalf, he was released to his father in less than 10 days.

“This case shows what the report reveals nationwide: when children have access to experienced legal representatives and to federal courts, their release is virtually guaranteed; it also demonstrates that the government’s current procedures are unnecessary,” said Jessica Viramontes, co-director of Children’s Due Process Project, following the report.

The decision not to renew the contract left more than 20,000 children without government-funded legal representation. “Many of the legal service providers representing these children felt a moral and ethical obligation to continue doing so, and have kept providing assistance using their own funds or support from other sources. But, as you can imagine, that is not sustainable for nonprofit organizations dedicated to legal aid,” Rodríguez says.

It is not new for children to appear alone before immigration courts to pursue their asylum claims, since federal funding was never sufficient to cover every case. Even so, most children at least received legal orientation sessions explaining what to expect, who would be in the courtroom and how the process worked.

Now the situation is different. Children arrive in court with little or no understanding of what awaits them and, in many cases, without speaking the language. Pressured by rising caseloads and the Trump administration’s drive to accelerate deportations, immigration courts have increasingly resorted to mass hearings, where dozens of children appear before a judge without legal representation. Notices are often issued with very little time to prepare, or even to ensure attendance, and hearings are sometimes held in venues not intended for court proceedings, such as offices of the Department of Homeland Security.

Judges, meanwhile, move quickly through the cases. “This is having a huge impact on the children and is producing numerous deportation and voluntary departure orders that may not reflect the best interests of the child,” says Rodríguez.

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