A Houston-based law firm declined a substantial federal contract offer to provide legal representation for unaccompanied migrant children in U.S. custody, according to federal authorities. The Burke Law Group’s decision to turn down the $150 million agreement was announced Wednesday, raising questions about how the government will meet legal obligations to represent vulnerable children in immigration proceedings.
The contract offer came as the administration accelerated its deportation enforcement efforts and after allowing a major contract covering nearly 100 service providers nationwide to expire at the end of July without a replacement in place. The Burke Law Group, with fewer than 30 lawyers and limited immigration law expertise, had been selected as one of two interim providers to address the gap. The firm’s founder previously worked in the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior, while other members have connections to conservative causes and legal circles.
Migrant children detained after entering without parents are entitled to legal protections under federal law, including the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which mandates government-provided legal representation in deportation proceedings. Currently, approximately 1,800 children are in shelters while roughly 22,000 facing deportation are living with outside sponsors. A temporary contract valued at $20 million was awarded to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants through the end of the year, but complications have already emerged, with new attorneys appearing in immigration court unannounced to represent children they had not yet met.
Legal challenges have mounted as some expired contract providers pursued litigation over unpaid balances. A California federal judge ordered the government to compensate the providers in early August. Legal representatives argued that the interim arrangements are inadequate to fulfill obligations to children currently under representation, with one attorney characterizing the government’s plans as insufficient to comply with court orders. Partial payments to legal aid organizations have begun arriving, though settlement of all owed amounts remains ongoing.
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