Bennet, Padilla, Cortez Masto, Goldman, Crow Denounce Trump Administration’s Nonpayment for Legal Services for Unaccompanied Minors, Demand Payment

Jun 8, 2026 | Press Releases

Legal Services Providers Have Not Received Payment Owed Since 2025

Denver - Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), along with U.S. Representatives Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Jason Crow (D-Colo), and 70 lawmakers to demand that the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) reimburse providers for work performed under their contract to furnish legal services to unaccompanied children. ORR has not issued reimbursements for services rendered since December 2025, despite Congress having appropriated funds for this purpose. The agency's ongoing refusal to issue payments contravenes the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) requirements, appropriations directives, and the federal government's contractual obligations.

"ORR's plain breach of contract threatens the viability of the nationwide network of nonprofit legal service providers that serve vulnerable unaccompanied children. These providers deliver critical legal representation, legal screenings, and Know Your Rights presentations to thousands of children across the country," wrote the lawmakers. "Their work is essential to ensuring that children are protected from trafficking, exploitation, and other harms, and that they appear for and are able to meaningfully participate in their immigration proceedings. Nonprofit providers do not have the reserves necessary to absorb prolonged nonpayment at this scale. As a result, organizations may be forced to lay off staff, stop accepting new cases, or cease operations altogether. These outcomes would jeopardize thousands of children's access to legal representation mid-case."

In their letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the lawmakers also expressed concern about reports that ORR is conditioning reimbursement on the provision of additional, case-specific information not required under the terms of the contract. These demands are an administrative stall tactic and reportedly include identifying information about child clients that may implicate attorney-client privilege and ethical obligations governing confidentiality.

The lawmakers demanded that ORR immediately fulfill all pending invoices; provide an explanation of the basis for the payment delays; and confirm that ORR will not condition payment on the provision of information not required under the contract.

In December 2025, Bennet joined Senators John Hickenlooper and Cortez Masto, as well as 19 of their Senate Democratic colleagues to introduce the Upholding Protections for Unaccompanied Children Act, legislation to reverse the provisions in Republicans' so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" that harm children seeking safety from trafficking, abuse, and exploitation in their home countries. In November 2025, Bennet joined U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and 48 bicameral colleagues to introduce the Restoring Access to Detainees Act, legislation to ensure the Department of Homeland Security allows noncitizens who have been detained to contact their legal counsel and families. In March 2025, Bennet urged the Trump Administration to reinstate critical protections for unaccompanied migrant children following the U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review's (EOIR) decision to rescind the 2023 Memorandum on Children's Cases in Immigration Court and reinstate 2017 guidelines. Bennet also urged the Trump Administration to ensure unaccompanied children in the immigration system receive legal representation.

In 2024, alongside Senate colleagues, Bennet called on Senate Appropriations leaders to ensure EOIR reports on the implementation of specialized children's immigration courts. In 2023, Bennet and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced the Immigration Court Efficiency and Children's Court Act, a bipartisan bill to establish a dedicated Children's Court within EOIR. The legislation would combat the immigration court backlog and strengthen due process rights for unaccompanied migrant children.

In addition to Bennet, Padilla, Cortez Masto, Goldman, and Crow, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-Ariz.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Angus S. King, Jr (I-Maine), Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Maizie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D- Conn.), Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Representatives Delia C. Ramirez (D-Ill.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-Ga.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Ill.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Robin L. Kelly (D-Ill.), J. Luis Correa (D-Calif.), Sylvia R. Garcia (D-Texas), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Norma J. Torres (D-Calif.), Summer L. Lee (D-Pa.), Paul D. Tonko (D-N.Y.), Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ted W. Lieu (D-Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), James R. Walkinshaw (D-Va.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), John B. Larson (D-Conn.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (D-Va.), Robert J. Menendez (D-N.J.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Frederica S. Wilson (D-Fla.), and Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) signed the letter.

The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

Dear Secretary Kennedy:

We write with urgent concern regarding the Office of Refugee Resettlement's (ORR) failure to reimburse providers for work performed under its contract to furnish legal services to unaccompanied children. Based on available information, ORR has not issued reimbursements for services rendered since December 2025, despite Congress having appropriated-and ORR having obligated-funds for this purpose. These non-payments violate numerous laws and imminently threaten the continued provision of essential legal services to vulnerable children.

As you know, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA) requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that unaccompanied children have access to legal representation "to the greatest extent practicable." For nearly two decades, ORR has fulfilled this mandate through a contract it administers that presently provides funding to nearly 100 legal services providers throughout the country. Successful implementation of that contract depends on timely reimbursement for services rendered. Indeed, bipartisan Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations measures mandate that ORR fund services performed under the contract. The agency's ongoing refusal to issue payments contravenes the TVPRA, appropriations directives, and the federal government's contractual obligations.

ORR's plain breach of contract threatens the viability of the nationwide network of nonprofit legal service providers that serve vulnerable unaccompanied children. These providers deliver critical legal representation, legal screenings, and Know Your Rights presentations to thousands of children across the country. Their work is essential to ensuring that children are protected from trafficking, exploitation, and other harms, and that they appear for and are able to meaningfully participate in their immigration proceedings. Nonprofit providers do not have the reserves necessary to absorb prolonged nonpayment at this scale. As a result, organizations may be forced to lay off staff, stop accepting new cases, or cease operations altogether. These outcomes would jeopardize thousands of children's access to legal representation mid-case.

We are particularly troubled by reports that ORR is conditioning reimbursement on the provision of additional, case-specific information not required under the terms of the contract. The additional demands appear to be an administrative stall tactic that is wholly unjustified and unacceptable. Moreover, these new demands reportedly include identifying information about child clients that may implicate attorney- client privilege and ethical obligations governing confidentiality. Such requirements are inconsistent with longstanding legal ethics rules and raise serious additional concerns, particularly given existing information-sharing arrangements between HHS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which serves as opposing counsel in immigration proceedings. Legal services providers cannot-and must not-be compelled to violate ethical obligations to their clients as a condition of receiving payment. Conditioning reimbursement on such disclosures would represent a unilateral and improper modification of the contract.

Ultimately, we are concerned that these payment delays may be an attempt to circumvent requirements that ORR continue funding legal services for unaccompanied children. However, the federal government must meet its obligations under the law. Accordingly, we request the following:

1. Immediately fulfill all pending invoices for legal services performed under the ORR contract;
2. Confirm that ORR will not condition payment on the provision of information not required under the contract, not least where such requirements would implicate attorney-client privilege or ethical obligations;
3. Provide a detailed explanation of the basis for the payment delays, including any internal directives or policy changes that led to this situation; and
4. Outline the steps HHS will take to ensure timely reimbursement going forward, consistent with contractual and statutory requirements.

Given the urgency of this matter and its impact on vulnerable children and nonprofit providers nationwide, we request a response no later than June 5th, 2026. We appreciate your prompt attention to this issue and look forward to your response.

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