Federal Officials Challenge Reports of Migrant Child Appearing Alone in Immigration Court

Federal officials are pushing back against media reports suggesting that a 1-year-old migrant boy appeared in immigration court without legal counsel. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provided a timeline that indicates legal service providers intervened to secure representation for the child following an initial hearing.

Angie Salazar, Acting Director of ORR, and Senior Advisor John Fabricatori stated that while lapses in legal representation have occurred, these were due to contractor failures and insufficient invoice oversight, not a widespread issue of very young children navigating the courts alone. "We don't have this big movement where we have a bunch of 1-year-olds who are going to court," Fabricatori told Fox News Digital.

According to ORR records, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) first encountered the 1-year-old child and his 17-year-old mother on June 25. The child was with his mother during all court proceedings.

A critical gap in legal representation emerged in July under the agency's former contractor, the Acacia Center for Justice. On July 1, Acacia completed legal orientation and consultation for the mother and child but failed to file the required notice of appearance with the immigration court. As a result, no attorney was present for the child's first scheduled court hearing on July 8, despite Acacia holding an active federal legal services contract at the time. This contract officially ended on July 31.

Following the termination of the Acacia contract, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) assumed oversight of legal services, beginning on August 5. USCRI representatives attended subsequent hearings as a friend of the court, and during an August 7 appearance, the mother and child were granted more time to secure counsel.

On August 31, a motion filed by the friend of the court and the mother requesting court-appointed counsel at government expense was denied by the immigration judge. Progress continued in September, with child advocates officially appointed on September 23. USCRI filed a formal notice of appearance on September 25, officially representing both mother and child in immigration court by September 29.

Officials explained that these July issues were the reason the administration terminated Acacia's contract, which was awarded in November 2023. The Department of Health and Human Services had awarded Acacia Center for Justice a $356.3 million contract for legal services for unaccompanied children, with over $236.9 million disbursed before its dissolution. Salazar expressed concern over the lack of transparency in Acacia's billing, noting that monthly invoices for legal services, sometimes exceeding $20 million, were heavily redacted, preventing clear oversight.

USCRI entered into a new contract with ORR valued at $20 million, set to expire on December 31. Fabricatori stated that USCRI is now present in nearly all hearings involving children in ORR's care, aiming to ensure legal representation is available. "So USCRI was showing up in court as a friend of the court to ensure that there was at least somebody present in case Acacia did not show up," he said.

Salazar highlighted that children under 5 years old represent approximately 2% of migrant children in ORR custody, with the majority being older teenagers. "What we said to our new grantee (USCRI): ‘We want you in 100% of the hearings where kids in our care are showing up to their immigration hearings,’" she stated, adding that this goal is currently being met at about 98%.

As of the report, there were 1,690 migrant children in ORR custody. Fabricatori contrasted this with the previous administration, stating, "Under Biden, they had 22,000 in care a day. So it's a very vast difference."