Casar Demands Investigations in Process for Legal Services for Unaccompanied Children

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Greg Casar (D-TX) led two separate letters demanding investigations and transparency from the Office of Refugee Resettlement's process for providing legal services to unaccompanied children.

Congressman Casar, as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement, sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services T. March Bell requesting an investigation into the ORR process for issuing contracts to organizations providing legal services to unaccompanied children.

Congressman Casar raised concerns with the ORR process issuing contracts, writing: "Under current law, ORR is required to ensure that the legal services provided to unaccompanied children are "qualified and independent." ORR actions over the last year and a half indicate the agency is not serious about providing legal representation to children and may be working to expedite the deportation of unaccompanied minors. These actions raise significant legal and ethical concerns that must be investigated."

Congressman Casar wrote in the letter: "ORR's previous attempts to remove unaccompanied children without due process demonstrates the Trump Administration's disregard for these children's legal rights. A failure to provide quality legal services will lead to vulnerable children who have a right to remain in the U.S. being deported to potentially dangerous and unstable environments."

Read the full letter here.

Additionally, Congressman Casar and Congressman Joaquin Castro co-led a letter, signed by 60+ Members of Congress, to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Office of Refugee Resettlement Acting Director Angie Salazar demanding transparency in its process for awarding contracts to organizations providing legal representation to unaccompanied children.

The group of lawmakers slammed the Secretary and Acting Director for awarding organizations, such as the Burke Law Group, without experience and expertise, jeopardizing the wellbeing of migrant children.

The members demanded a more transparent process for awarding experienced organizations to represent unaccompanied children, writing, "Burke Law Group and Our Rescue lack experience, proficiency, and capacity to appropriately implement essential legal services to thousands of unaccompanied children. We are gravely concerned that ORR would entrust a vulnerable population with firms so plainly unqualified for the task. We urge ORR to find the best organizations to handle this contract through a competitive, public process."

The members criticized no-bid contracts awarded to firms that were connected to the president, writing, "The Trump administration has made a practice of issuing awards based on politics and cronyism rather than the public interest. We are not surprised that leadership in both Burke Law Group and Our Rescue includes individuals who previously served in various roles during the first Trump administration. Derek Benner, the current CEO of Our Rescue, previously served as the Executive Associate Director for Homeland Security Investigations during the first Trump administration. Children's legal protections should never be the currency of political patronage."

The lawmakers demanded answers about ORR's current contracts by September 25, 2026.

The letter is co-led by Congressman Greg Casar (TX-35) and Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and signed by Representatives Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), André Carson (IN-07), Judy Chu (CA-28), Gilbert Cisneros (CA-31), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), J. Correa (CA-46), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Christopher Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Bill Foster (IL-11), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jesús García (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Daniel Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Pablo Hernández (PR), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Henry Johnson (GA-04), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Summer Lee (PA-12), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Norton (DC), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Luz Rivas (CA-29), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Janice Schakowsky (IL-09), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Norma Torres (CA-35), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).

Read the full letter co-led by Congressman Casar and Castro here.