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Migrant kids, facing deportation, take on the US government alone in immigration court
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Aug 5, 2026
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Aug 5, 2026
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Dozens of young children, including one who wore a pink shirt and spoke in a sing-song voice, appeared virtually in a Downtown Manhattan immigration court on Wednesday morning. Most lacked attorneys and were facing government lawyers alone as their ability to remain in the United States hung in the balance.
Immigration Judge Lisa Ling admonished one girl for failing to provide a completed asylum application, which the judge said was the third time that important task had been left undone. Without a completed asylum application or another form of immigration relief, Ling explained, she could order the child to be deported.
“The day before yesterday I was going to get in touch with an attorney, but they didn’t call me,” the girl said in Spanish through an interpreter.
Ling replied, “I understand it’s difficult. But with or without an attorney, you need to fill out that application in English.”
The Trump administration allowed a $200 million federal contract providing lawyers for over 24,000 unaccompanied minors across the country to expire on Friday. On Tuesday, the officials announced that a new $150 million contract had been reached — but it won’t start until Aug. 15, leaving untold numbers of children across the country to potentially fend for themselves before immigration judges — as was the case during the virtual proceedings in Manhattan.
The new contract will be overseen by Burke Law Group, a Texas-based law firm. It replaces the Acacia Center for Justice, based in Washington, D.C.
The change-up comes at a pivotal time: The Trump administration has ramped up its crackdown on both legal and unlawful immigration in New York and across the country.
Unaccompanied children are those who were younger than 18 when they entered the United States and did so without parents or legal guardians. Instead, they typically made their journeys with another relative. In immigration court, unlike in criminal court, low-income respondents — including children — aren’t guaranteed lawyers.
In a handful of cases in Ling’s courtroom on Wednesday, child advocates explained that attorneys were no longer able to represent clients due to a funding lapse caused by the expired contract. An attorney appearing as a “friend of the court,” an adviser for pro se respondents on behalf of many of the children, said it would be about three weeks before the new contract takes effect and the children are matched with lawyers.
Ling set new hearing dates for many of the children just weeks away.
One case involved an 11-year-old girl who wore a pink shirt and spoke with a high-pitched, sing-song voice. A child advocate requested more lead time for the girl’s next hearing, citing her age and trouble finding an attorney.
Ling gave her a new hearing date: Aug. 25. Under past presidential administrations, unaccompanied children would usually be scheduled for follow-up hearings three to six months in advance, according to immigration attorneys and advocates.
“ There's not enough time to find an attorney, to build rapport with that attorney, to assess relief, and then file an application, and then present proof of filing,” said Jessica Richardson, an attorney with the Door, a New York-based nonprofit providing immigration representation for unaccompanied children, among other services. “It's just not realistic.”
Faiza Ali, the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, attended and observed the court proceedings, and drew attention to the plight of unaccompanied children in immigration courts.
”You have a combination of both escalating federal tactics plus the expiration of a federal contract, and that is deepening the crisis for unaccompanied minors,” Ali said after the hearing concluded.
Through an interpreter, Ling also asked one boy, who spoke only Kʼicheʼ, an indigenous Central American language, to return in three weeks with a completed asylum application in English.
“I don’t know how to fill it out,” the boy said through the interpreter, looking down at the floor and never at the camera. “I don’t know if you can help me fill it out.”
The judge said she couldn’t assist and instead suggested he find a trusted person who speaks English and Kʼicheʼ to help him complete the application.
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new york city
Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
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