CHICAGO — On Tuesday, August 5th, 2026, the Trump administration announced it had awarded a $150 million contract to the Houston-based Burke Law Group to provide legal representation to migrant children traveling alone to the United States. The firm has ties to the administration but reportedly has little experience in immigration law.

This contract comes as the administration escalates its mass deportation campaign nationwide and follows the expiration of a key contract with a network of legal groups that previously worked with immigrant children, with no replacement arranged.

Legal aid providers who have long represented these children have increasingly raised concerns that vulnerable migrant children may not receive the experienced legal help they need during a period of intensified removal efforts. Michael Lukens, head of the Amica Center, described the sole-source contract awarded to the Texas firm as “upsetting and shocking,” warning it could result in children receiving no meaningful due process or day in court. Lukens stated, “We cannot have a random law firm entrusted to take care of children.”

The contract announced applies only to children currently held in government-run shelters. Lukens noted that about 1,800 children live in shelters, while roughly 22,000 reside outside the shelter system with sponsors such as family members. The government would need to issue a separate contract to cover legal services for those children living outside shelters.

Various legal protections apply to unaccompanied migrant children once in the U.S., including the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which mandates the government facilitate legal representation for children in deportation proceedings.

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