Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) joined U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and 31 of their Senate colleagues to urge Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum to ensure unaccompanied children in the immigration system receive legal representation.
Earlier this month, the Trump Administration issued a stop work order to organizations that provide legal services for unaccompanied children. According to an article by the Guardian, the stop work order affected organizations providing legal counsel for around 26,000 unaccompanied minors. The Trump Administration rescinded its order last week due to public pressure.
“Pausing or terminating the provision of legal services to unaccompanied children under this contract runs directly counter to the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and places 26,000 unaccompanied children at increased risk of trafficking, exploitation, and other harm,” wrote Bennet, Ossoff, Hirono, and the senators. “The TVPRA, passed by Congress in 2008 on a bipartisan basis, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that all unaccompanied children have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.”
In their letter, the senators argue that unaccompanied migrant children face unique obstacles as they navigate the complex U.S. immigration system. Due to their age, developmental stage, and communication and comprehension constraints, children cannot effectively navigate the complex and adversarial immigration system without legal representation.
“Cutting off access to legal services makes it more likely that the government will lose track of unaccompanied children, given the challenges such children would face in independently appearing for immigration court hearings, submitting address updates, or otherwise communicating with immigration authorities,” continued the senators. “Not only will this make children more vulnerable to trafficking, but it will also create further inefficiencies in an already backlogged immigration court system.”
Bennet has consistently advocated for the protection of children in the immigration system. In 2024, Bennet and senate colleagues wrote to U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations leaders urging them to ensure the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) reports on the implementation of specialized children’s immigration courts. In 2023, Bennet introduced the Immigration Court Efficiency and Children’s Court Act to combat the immigration court backlog and strengthen due process rights for unaccompanied migrant children. In 2023, Bennet also wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Marty Walsh requesting information on their investigations into child labor exploitation of unaccompanied non-citizen children.
In addition to Bennet, Ossoff, and Hirono, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Angus King (I-Maine), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) signed the letter.
The text of the letter is available HERE and below.
Dear Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Burgum:
We write to express our strong opposition to the February 18, 2025 stop work order issued regarding your agencies’ contract for the provision of legal services for unaccompanied children. Although the order has now been rescinded, we are concerned about the chaos and confusion it caused for legal services providers and the children they serve. Any disruption to services for unaccompanied children is alarming, particularly in light of recent reports of the administration’s intent to place unaccompanied children into removal proceedings.
Pausing or terminating the provision of legal services to unaccompanied children under this contract runs directly counter to the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and places 26,000 unaccompanied children at increased risk of trafficking, exploitation, and other harm. The TVPRA, passed by Congress in 2008 on a bipartisan basis, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that all unaccompanied children have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking. Shirking this statutory mandate heightens the risk of harm for these uniquely vulnerable children.
Access to legal services often provides unaccompanied children their only hope for a fair legal process. Unaccompanied children’s age, developmental stage, and communication and comprehension constraints make it virtually impossible for them to effectively navigate the complex and adversarial immigration system without an attorney at their side. The government funded legal services provided under this contract are, in many cases, the only thing preventing a two or three-year-old unaccompanied child from facing court proceedings alone against a government attorney seeking their deportation.
Attorneys are vital to unaccompanied children’s comprehension of and compliance with immigration requirements and processes. From fiscal year (FY) 2005 through June of FY 2019, 98 percent of juveniles placed in removal proceedings who were represented by a lawyer appeared for their hearings. Cutting off access to legal services makes it more likely that the government will lose track of unaccompanied children, given the challenges such children would face in independently appearing for immigration court hearings, submitting address updates, or otherwise communicating with immigration authorities. Not only will this make children more vulnerable to trafficking, but it will also create further inefficiencies in an already backlogged immigration court system. Moreover, attorneys help children understand their options and are often in a position to facilitate prompt voluntary departures, where appropriate.
For these reasons, we urge you to publicly commit to maintaining this contract. We further request a briefing about why the contract was paused and your plan for compliance with your statutory mandate to ensure that children have counsel in immigration proceedings.
Every day without access to counsel is another day in which vulnerable children face grave danger by human traffickers, abusers, or other bad actors, without an advocate at their side. Thank you for your consideration of this critical issue.