minors in the United States. Roxana Avila-Cimpeanu, deputy director of a legal support group for unaccompanied minors, described the scene to AFP, noting the teen mother must file applications for both herself and her baby while detained and distressed.

Advocates say the Trump administration has defunded organizations with years of experience helping unaccompanied minors, replacing them with under-equipped, unqualified substitutes. Democratic lawmakers wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services expressing grave concern that the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) would entrust vulnerable children to "firms so plainly unqualified for the task." Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has pursued aggressive deportation operations. After a federal judge blocked an attempt to cut ORR funding—services mandated by a 2008 law—the government stopped payments entirely, and in July 2026 let a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice expire. Acacia managed a network of about 100 organizations serving some 20,000 children. Avila-Cimpeanu said the government made funding contingent on releasing confidential information about those children, which the network refused. Plans to hand cases to the Burke Law Group collapsed when that firm withdrew; a subsequent contract with Our Rescue was put on hold amid congressional scrutiny. Lawmakers warned that "children's legal protections should never be the currency of political patronage." Avila-Cimpeanu called this "the worst time" in her 10 years of work, describing "a concerted attack on children." She recalled a 2018 case involving a baby just months old, forced through proceedings "as if they were adults." ORR says it funded USCRI through year-end to appear at hearings, but Acacia spokesman Bilal Askaryar noted USCRI has roughly 50 attorneys versus Acacia's 800, stressing the stakes: "This is about 20,000 children who came to the United States seeking safety." (Bssnews)