Judge orders federal government to pay $65M to legal service providers for migrant children
Nonprofit organizations that provide legal services for unaccompanied migrant children are celebrating a win after a California federal judge ordered the Trump administration to compensate these organizations $65 million for unpaid work on Thursday.
The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights handles hundreds of cases for these children in Maryland, and also works on cases in Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
The ruling, though, still leaves some big questions in the air for them, as a federal contract for these services has not yet been renewed.
"The government owes us over $2.5 million..."
Michael Lukens, the Amica Center's executive director, said his organization felt vindicated when it learned of Thursday's ruling.
"The government owes us over $2.5 million for work already done, a lot of that for kids in Maryland," Lukens said. "We are able to now replenish those funds that we have been pulling down from our reserves."
The Amica Center is one of nearly 100 nonprofits owed over $65 million in unpaid fees for representing unaccompanied migrant children in their deportation cases.
California U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguín ordered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pay the organizations by Friday afternoon.
As of 4 p.m. local time, court records show payments are being processed and are expected to reach organizations on Monday.
WJZ requested a statement from HHS, but we have not received a response.
Awaiting a contract
The organizations are all part of a network under the Acacia Center for Justice, which has had a contract with HHS for years to provide legal services to these children.
However, the contract wasn't renewed last year, leading to its expiration on July 31. That meant some of these children went without lawyers at their court hearings this week.
Lukens said that wasn't the case for the Amica Center's clients.
"We did not go to our child clients and say there's a contract issue, you may lose your attorney," he said. "Our mandate is to help the children, and we did that every day this week."
Without a new contract yet, the Amica Center and other organizations worry the worst is coming for these children.
"The administration is trying to deport as many kids as possible, so we are seeing a decrease in the number of children locally. It has not been significant yet, but they really are ramping up deportations of children right now," Lukens said.
The Trump administration awarded a $150 million contract to the Burke Law Group, a small Texas-based law firm, to provide legal services to these children, according to an Associated Press report.
The firm has ties to the Trump administration and little experience in immigration law.