Trump Administration Has Failed to Comply With Court Order to Fund Lawyers for Migrant Children: Report

The Trump administration has failed to comply with a federal court order requiring it to continue funding legal representation for unaccompanied migrant children, according to court filings from several legal advocacy groups.

A temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín on April 1 mandated the restoration of funds that had been cut off in March, leaving tens of thousands of children at risk of navigating immigration court alone.

However, despite the judge's order, attorneys from the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and the Justice Action Center say the government has not taken any steps to resume funding. "What defendants have not done is comply in any way with the TRO," they wrote in a court filing reported by NBC News.

Instead, the administration has filed multiple motions, including a request to dissolve the order, an appeal, and a motion for the judge's recusal.

The funding in question had supported a network of nonprofit organizations working with roughly 26,000 unaccompanied children. Judge Martínez-Olguín, based in Northern California, concluded that the administration may have violated its obligations under federal anti-trafficking law, which requires the government to provide legal representation to minors "to the greatest extent practicable." The administration contended that such funding was discretionary.

Following funding cutoff, reports from the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights described children as young as five appearing alone in court. In one case, reported by NBC News, a 14-year-old girl broke down in a court lobby upon learning she would face proceedings without a lawyer.

The Young Center noted that miscommunication and lack of interpreters have further complicated hearings. In one hearing, no interpreter was present despite the children's limited English proficiency; in another, translation errors distorted the judge's instructions.

The court's temporary order to restore funding is set to expire April 16. Both parties may submit further briefs before a final decision is made.