Courtroom Crisis for Unaccompanied Minors in Virginia

In Annandale, Virginia, U.S. Immigration Judge Paul McCloskey presided over a series of hearings in which nine immigrant children appeared without legal representation. The youngest, a 7-year-old named Moises, was given a continuance until mid-September to secure an attorney. Other minors—including a 17-year-old from Honduras, a teenager named Mariana, and two additional youths identified only as Diego and Alison—faced similar delays or, in Mariana’s case, a rapid denial of asylum and an order of removal. The judge’s reliance on interpreters slowed proceedings, and the absence of counsel left children unable to clarify testimony or challenge credibility assessments.

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The shortage of lawyers is tied to a prolonged funding standoff between the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and nonprofit legal service providers. HHS withheld payments to the Acacia Center for Justice, the primary conduit for federal funds, after the government allowed the Acacia contract to expire on July 31. The pause left organizations such as Kids in Need of Defense and Restoration Immigration Legal Aid in severe financial strain; KIND, a former Acacia subcontractor, reported $27 million in debt and announced staff furloughs at month’s end. HHS later announced two new funding agreements—one for $150 million and another for $20 million—to support legal services in selected locations, but attorneys warned that the backlog could render the additional money too late to prevent case closures.

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Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, said the administration is reshaping a system originally designed for protection into one focused on detention and deportation of children. The Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review declined comment on the specific cases.

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Attorneys in McCloskey’s courtroom reported unsustainable caseloads and limited ability to secure continuances for unrepresented minors. The funding gap has already forced some nonprofits to reduce operations, lay off staff, and delay filing of asylum applications. As a result, children like Mariana face expedited removal, while others await representation with uncertain prospects for timely appeals. The combined effect of funding delays and court backlogs threatens the legal protections afforded to unaccompanied alien children under U.S. immigration law.

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