Reps. Summer Lee, Chris Deluzio Raise Alarm as Federal Government Ends Legal Representation for Hundreds of Unaccompanied Migrant Children in PA

July 31, 2026

PITTSBURGH, PA – JULY 31, 2026 — Yesterday, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) and Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) demanded answers from the Trump administration over its abrupt decision to end a federal contract that provides legal representation to thousands of unaccompanied migrant children, including hundreds in Pennsylvania.

Reps. Lee and Deluzio sent a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Acting Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement Angie Salazar raising urgent questions about the expiration of the Unaccompanied Children Legal Services contract between the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Acacia Center for Justice.

The contract expires today, July 31, 2026. Without further action from the administration, thousands of children across the country could lose access to legal representation, guidance, and support while navigating the immigration court system.

The letter reads in part:

“Our offices have heard concerns from an organization in our region that provides legal services to unaccompanied children about the continuity of children's legal cases and their clients' overall wellbeing in the absence of guidance from the government about how the cases will be transferred or managed…

“If this organization (and others operating across the country) are unable to continue their work, approximately 20,000 unaccompanied children in federal custody and living in our communities will lose federally funded representation they are to receive under the law. Equally troubling, if the agency does not take action to continue these services, new children that enter ORR custody will be stripped of access to critical legal information and a trusted adult to help them understand their rights starting on August 1, 2026. 

“Children, many of which have fled violence and exploitation, should not be forced to appear in court alone without representation. 

Please provide responses to the following questions by August 10, 2026: 

1. Why has ORR failed to present the Acacia center with guidance on case continuity?
2. How will the government ensure its compliance with statutory language and court order requiring that unaccompanied children receive legal services? 
3. What plans are in place to ensure these unaccompanied minors' cases receive due process according to the law? 
4. What is the Administration's plan to transfer or transition these cases and the work of these organizations? 
5. When will the Administration release the payments owed to legal services providers?

Rep. Lee has consistently fought to protect immigrant children and families, defend due process, and hold federal immigration agencies accountable. She previously raised the alarm after the Trump administration canceled legal-service contracts that left children as young as two at risk of representing themselves in immigration court. Lee has also demanded answers following the detention of a Western Pennsylvania asylum seeker and introduced legislation to redirect federal immigration-enforcement funding toward legal assistance, housing, healthcare, and community-based services. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Lee continues working to protect constitutional rights and ensure every person receives fair treatment under the law.

The full text of the letter is available here.

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Judiciary and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, she has delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.7 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs.  Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 4,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.