Houston Law Firm Turns Down $150M Deal to Represent Migrant Children
A Texas law firm with Trump administration ties declined a $150 million contract to represent unaccompanied migrant children, creating uncertainty.
A Houston-based law firm with connections to the Trump administration has declined a $150 million federal contract to represent unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S., according to officials on Wednesday. The decision leaves the future of legal representation for these children uncertain.
The Burke Law Group, a small firm with limited immigration experience, was selected last week to fill a gap left when a contract with nearly 100 legal service providers expired at the end of July. The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees the program, confirmed the firm's decision in a statement but did not explain the reasoning.
In a brief social media post on Tuesday night, the firm said it had considered applying for a "small portion" of the contract but did not elaborate on why it ultimately declined.
The firm's founder, Marcella Burke, served in the first Trump administration as a lawyer for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior. Other notable figures associated with the firm include Justin Shubow, a former Trump appointee to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and conservative legal scholar Ilya Shapiro.
Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, the government is required to provide legal representation for migrant children placed in deportation proceedings. Currently, about 1,800 children are in shelters, and roughly 22,000 are living with sponsors while facing deportation.
The government has awarded a temporary $20 million contract to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) through the end of the year. However, attorneys from USCRI have begun appearing in immigration court to represent children they have not yet met, causing confusion among judges and lawyers from the expired contract.
Legal aid providers whose contracts expired have sued the administration over unpaid work. A California federal judge ordered the government to pay them on August 6. Caelin Moriarity Miltko, an attorney for the providers, argued that the interim arrangements are insufficient and that the children's representation cannot be transferred abruptly.
Bilal Askaryar of the Acacia Center for Justice confirmed that the groups have begun receiving payments covering six of the nine months owed, with the remainder in progress.