RMIAN Stands with Unaccompanied Children, Demands Government Restore Funding
For nearly two decades, the federal government has funded legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant children because Congress recognized that children cannot fairly navigate the U.S. immigration system on their own. On Friday, July 31, 2026, the Trump administration ended the federal contract with Acacia Center for Justice, effectively dismantling the nationwide network of nearly 100 legal service providers that have provided counsel to more than 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children, including RMIAN. This decision leaves thousands of children—including survivors of abuse, trafficking, and persecution—without legal representation at one of the most consequential moments of their lives.
"Forcing children to face immigration court alone is a profound failure of our legal system and our moral responsibility. No child should be expected to defend themselves in a courtroom where the stakes are their safety, their future, and, in many cases, their lives. Our immigration system should protect children—not leave them to fend for themselves in one of the most complex legal systems in the world.
This contract termination for legal services is part of a coordinated, shameful attack on vulnerable children who have survived abuse, trafficking and trauma to get them to give up and return to the dire circumstances they fled in the first place and to make sure they don't have attorneys to help defend them.
RMIAN stands with our child clients and in solidarity with all the other organizations whose ability to protect children is being intentionally devastated by this administration. We demand that the government immediately restore funding for legal services for children and uphold its responsibility to ensure that every child has meaningful access to due process in our legal system." --Ashley Turner Harrington, Esq., RMIAN Children's Program Managing Attorney
"Nonprofit organizations cannot be expected to replace funding that the government is statutorily required to provide, especially considering the network has not been paid for this critical work since November 2025.
This has a huge impact on RMIAN’s budget and will definitely impact how we fund our work moving forward and the number of children we can represent. But we are committed to doing everything in our power to fundraise and continue representation for the unaccompanied children we committed to, because it is the right thing to do." --Emily B. Brock, Esq., RMIAN Children's Program Deputy Managing Attorney
The majority of RMIAN’s Children’s Program clients are unaccompanied children who made the journey to the United States alone to seek refuge from child abuse, neglect, and violence. The termination of this federal contract means RMIAN will no longer receive federal funding to provide legal services for children like Isaac and Lydia:
Isaac (not his real name) suffered severe child abuse by his uncles after both of his parents passed away. When he escaped from his village to a nearby city, he was attacked and beaten by a gang. A kind stranger found him alone, injured and afraid and helped him make a long journey from West Africa to the United States. He was detained by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for several months before being released to a foster home in Colorado. RMIAN represented him in his applications for asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and lawful permanent residency. We joyfully celebrated with him when his green card was granted and he knew he would be safe in the United States for the rest of his life.
Growing up, Lydia (not her real name) was beaten by her father almost daily. As a young teenager, she fled her home and came to the United States as an unaccompanied child. RMIAN will no longer receive funding from ORR to continue Lydia's legal representation, even though she is eligible to receive a green card and eventually become a U.S. citizen.
The decision to end funding for legal representation for unaccompanied children leaves exceptionally vulnerable children to navigate an impossibly complex legal system alone. RMIAN will continue fighting alongside our clients and working with partners across the country to ensure that children are not denied the justice and protection they deserve.
For more on this story, please checkout this coverage:
https://acaciajustice.org/trump-administration-ends-unaccompanied-children-program-contract-with-acacias-legal-service-providers/
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/01/nx-s1-5913679/immgirant-children-lawyers-trump-administration
