In a new setback for Donald Trump, a federal judge in California ordered the Republican's administration to restore payments to nonprofit organizations that provide legal assistance to immigrant minors who arrived alone in the United States, after the government stopped delivering resources for months despite a previous court order.
The ruling, issued by the Federal Court for the Northern District of California in the case Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto v. Department of Health and Human Services, requires the government to release by noon on Friday, August 7, funds withheld to cover legal services provided to unaccompanied immigrant children since December 2025.
The ruling establishes that the federal administration must pay the organizations that are part of a national network of almost 100 specialized providers, although the decision does not resolve the uncertainty about the future of the program, because the federal contract that supported these services expired on July 31 without an immediate renewal.
The judge recognized that the lack of financial continuity left the legal representation of thousands of minors at risk and ordered the government to present, before August 13, a report on the measures that will guarantee the permanence of legal support.
The conflict began in March 2025, when the Trump administration attempted to cancel funding for legal representation of unaccompanied immigrant minors. A court blocked that measure on April 1 of that year and subsequently issued a preliminary order on April 29 to maintain protection while the litigation proceeded.
The legal basis for the program is found in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), passed by Congress in 2008, which states that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), must ensure that unaccompanied immigrant minors have access to legal representation “to the greatest extent practicable.”
However, advocacy organizations reported that the government stopped paying for services provided since December 2025, forcing several organizations to resort to emergency funds, reduce staff and limit their capacity to provide care.
"We still do not know how many children paid the price for this administration's illegality. While the government withheld funds in defiance of its obligations, children were left facing deportation proceedings alone and some may have been returned to the same abuse, persecution and danger from which they fled," said Álvaro M. Huerta, Director of Litigation and Advocacy at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
For her part, Adina Appelbaum, program director of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, noted that "every withheld payment threatens a child's access to legal representation, due process and safety. When funds are used as a pressure tool, immigrant children are the ones left alone to face decisions that can change their lives."
The resolution occurs while the Trump administration promotes measures to accelerate deportations of immigrant minors and modify the traditional legal representation scheme.
