Wyden Demands HHS Uphold Mandated Legal Services for Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Government Custody

Wyden Demands HHS Uphold Mandated Legal Services for Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Government Custody

The Trump Administration Published a Contract With Provisions that Undermine Mandated Legal Representation for Unaccompanied Migrant Children

Text of the Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., demanded the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) uphold its obligations to ensure that unaccompanied migrant children in government custody receive the legal services they are entitled to.

As part of Donald Trump's agenda to trample due process and deport immigrants, the Administration has repeatedly attempted to terminate legal services for these vulnerable children. HHS' recently published contract, "the Legal Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children Request for Proposals" (RFP), serves as an extension of that draconian effort. Without lawyers, children as young as toddlers are forced to represent themselves alone in a complex immigration legal system.

"It is unconscionable to needlessly force children as young as babies to go through the immigration system alone by hamstringing their legal representatives. If allowed to stand, this contract will profoundly harm some of the most vulnerable children in the world who rely on government-funded legal services to access the help they need," wrote Wyden to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The RFP not only significantly limits but also damages the quality and integrity of legal services by:

• Decreasing further the amount of investments and service provided for unaccompanied migrant children. The new contract would limit funding for legal representation by requiring a percentage of services to be offered pro bono. There are far too few pro bono attorneys who can commit to taking on a significant or long-term case that meets the needs of these vulnerable children.

• Drawing out the payments of providers through a plan that compensates them only once services are completed. Asylum claims could take multiple years, forcing attorneys to make the impossible choice of taking on this essential work without financial compensation.

• Requiring legal services to report sensitive information to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). The RFP imposes conditions on legal service providers that undermine their advocacy, ability to be confidential, and uphold attorney ethics.

The full letter can be found here.

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