Separate federal contract with nearly 100 providers working with immigrant children expired at July’s end
The Burke Law Group’s rejection of the $150 million contract deepens uncertainty over the long-term legal representation of unaccompanied migrant children in federal custody. The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, the agency that oversees these contracts, issued a Wednesday statement offering no insight into why Burke declined the offer.
The administration had announced plans to award the contract to Burke Law Group, a Houston-based firm, the previous week. According to the AP, the firm has little experience in immigration law.
A separate federal contract that had worked with nearly 100 providers working with immigrant children around the country expired at the end of July with no replacement in place. That earlier arrangement covered representation for unaccompanied children traveling alone to the United States and is no longer active.
An interim group is currently representing unaccompanied migrant children in federal custody. That interim contract expires in December, and it remains unclear what will follow.