Trump Is Pressing Lawyers to Share Info on Migrant Children
The Trump administration is withholding pay from legal aid groups while demanding they share confidential case data about the unaccompanied migrant children whom immigration enforcement agencies are trying to deport.
Undocumented Ecuadorian immigrant Jazlyn, six, and her cousin Adrian, three, arrive to JFK International Airport for a flight to Ecuador with their mothers on October 26, 2025, in New York, New York. Their mothers decided to “self-deport” with their children after their husbands were detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and later deported. (John Moore / Getty Images)
The Trump administration is withholding pay from legal aid groups while demanding they share confidential case data about unaccompanied migrant children fighting to remain in the country, according to records reviewed by the Lever.
For months, the records show, the primary legal services provider for unaccompanied migrant youth has been locked in a standoff with the federal government over these unprecedented demands, which advocates say would represent a breach of attorney-client privilege and could put vulnerable children at risk.
As a result, legal clinics across the country that provide a critical lifeline to migrant children, shepherding them through the byzantine immigration court system that they would otherwise face on their own, have not been paid for their work since December, threatening their existence.
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