Trump administration to pay $65 million owed to lawyers of unaccompanied migrant children

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Set us as preferred A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release about $65 million in unpaid fees to nonprofits that provided legal services to unaccompanied migrant children facing deportation.U.S.District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin on Thursday further ordered the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services to notify the court that the funds were released an hour after Friday’s deadline, which is 12 p.m.Pacific time.A spokesperson for the federal agency could not immediately be reached for comment.

But in a previous response to The Times, the agency said it “has remained fully compliant with legal and regulatory obligations and does not act in any way that could dissuade a child from seeking appropriate legal relief.”It was the second time the judge had ordered the agency to comply with a preliminary injunction as part of an ongoing legal dispute with nonprofit providers over a federal contract that funds legal services for migrant children in U.S.custody.

The contract expired July 31, affecting 90 nonprofit organizations and creating uncertainty for more than 24,000 unaccompanied minors across the U.S.who face losing legal representation.Alvaro M.

Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said in a written statement that it was unclear how many children were harmed by the federal government’s actions.“While the government withheld funding in defiance of its obligations, children were left to face deportation proceedings alone, and some potentially returned to the very abuse, persecution, and danger they fled,” he said.“We will continue our zealous advocacy for every child and hold this administration accountable for every attempt to evade its obligation to provide legal representation.“Children’s rights are not optional,” Huerta added, “and neither is the government’s responsibility...