Washington, D.C. – U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin’s ruling ordering the administration to pay the $65 million it failed to pay legal services providers who represent unaccompanied children upholds the vital need for these services to protect these uniquely vulnerable children. While payments to the nearly 100 organizations, including Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), which is owed more than $26 million, are welcome, concerns remain about the future of federally funded legal services for unaccompanied children. KIND President Wendy Young has the following statement in response:
“The court’s order requiring the administration to pay for legal services already provided to unaccompanied children is an important affirmation of the critical role legal representation plays in protecting some of the most vulnerable children in our immigration system. While these long-overdue payments for services provided between December 2025 and April 2026 – $18.6 million of the full amount owed – will help relieve some of the extraordinary financial strain created by months of unpaid work, they do not resolve the larger crisis facing unaccompanied children.
The administration continues to alter fundamentally longstanding protections in place to provide children with a fair chance in an adjudication system that is complex, adversarial, and often retraumatizing. Children navigating immigration proceedings alone face profound risks, particularly those who have already experienced violence, persecution, trafficking, or family separation. Oversight of how children’s cases are addressed will be needed to ensure children receive full access to protection.
KIND remains steadfast in its mission to ensure that every child has access to the protection, due process, and legal representation they need and deserve. We will continue to advocate globally for a child-centered system that recognizes the unique vulnerabilities and trauma many of these children have endured and preserves the legal protections that have safeguarded unaccompanied children for nearly 20 years.”
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Media Contact: Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, 202-631-9990