Trump Admin Ends Partnership with Migrant Advocacy Groups, Awards $150M Legal Contract to Texas Firm
Susan Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
by Mariane Angela 4 Aug 2026
President Donald Trump’s deputies have ended agency payments to immigration advocacy groups who want to help young migrants gain legal status.
The Trump administration is replacing nonprofit immigration legal providers with a private law firm, awarding a cooperative agreement worth up to $150 million to a Texas-based firm to represent younger migrants who used a small 2008 migration gateway intended for abandoned teenagers or children, dubbed “Unaccompanied Alien Children,” in immigration proceedings.
According to a Federal Register notice set to be published Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement intends to award the agreement to Houston-based Burke Law Group. The contract would run from Aug. 15, 2026, through Aug. 14, 2027.
Under the agreement, Burke Law Group will provide legal orientation, legal consultations, and attorney representation for eligible unaccompanied migrant children appearing before the Executive Office for Immigration Review and in proceedings before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services while they remain in ORR custody.
The firm will also provide limited legal transition planning and referrals for children leaving ORR care.
https://www.alipac.us/f12/trump-admin-ends-partnership-migrant-advocacy-groups-awards-%24150m-legal-contrac-440790/
