HHS creates legal division for unaccompanied migrant children
The Department of Health and Human Services has created a legal division authorized to advise and represent unaccompanied migrant children in immigration proceedings, a move that advocates say raises questions about whether government-employed attorneys can independently represent children in a federal custody program.
The change was published September 29, 2026, in a Federal Register notice revising the organization of HHS‘s Office of the General Counsel. The notice creates the Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division, using the formal term found in federal law and agency documents.
The notice authorizes the division to provide direct legal advice and counsel, introductory legal orientation about immigration proceedings, and representation for individual children before immigration courts and other appropriate immigration adjudicatory bodies. It does not say when the division will begin handling cases, how many attorneys it will have or whether it will operate nationwide.
What the new division is authorized to do
The Federal Register says attorneys in the division may represent an individual child throughout the child’s immigration proceedings, as appropriate. The unit is housed within HHS’s Office of the General Counsel, which remains the department’s central legal office.
HHS says the division will operate separately from the Children, Families, and Aging Division, the Administration for Children and Families and the Office of Refugee Resettlement when it represents an individual child. In those matters, the division is not supposed to provide legal advice or representation to those HHS components concerning the same child.
That is an internal organizational separation, not independence from HHS or the federal government. The division remains under the Office of the General Counsel, whose general counsel is responsible for providing legal services to HHS and reports to the secretary.
Why the structure matters
HHS says its Office of Refugee Resettlement receives unaccompanied children referred by another federal agency, usually the Department of Homeland Security. ORR provides care and custody for children who generally have no lawful immigration status, are under 18 and lack a parent or legal guardian in the United States who can provide care.
Advocates told The Associated Press that placing lawyers within the same department responsible for the children’s custody creates an unresolved concern about attorney independence. Shaina Aber of the Acacia Center for Justice said the arrangement does not meet basic standards for independent counsel. Wendy Young of Kids in Need of Defense questioned whether government-employed lawyers could provide the same level of advocacy as outside attorneys.
Those are advocates’ professional and policy objections, not a court finding that the new lawyers will act improperly. The practical question is whether the separation described in the notice will provide meaningful protection for attorney-client independence while HHS oversees the children’s care.
Outside legal services remain unsettled
The new division comes as the administration changes the system for contracted legal services. AP reported that HHS cut ties with the Acacia Center for Justice, which had managed a network of providers and handled about 24,000 cases. Legal-aid groups said the funding disruption made it harder for some children to obtain representation and that some children had recently appeared in court without lawyers.
Separately, an August 6 Federal Register notice showed that HHS’s Administration for Children and Families intended to award a single-source cooperative agreement for legal orientation, consultation and attorney-of-record representation for eligible children in ORR care. That procurement notice was a separate action from the September 29 organizational change.
AP later reported that the administration awarded a separate legal-services contract to the Houston-based Burke Law Group after the prior provider arrangement expired. The reported transition, along with the new HHS division, leaves the long-term balance between government-employed attorneys and nongovernmental providers unclear.
What remains unknown
HHS has not publicly explained when the new division will be fully operational, how many attorneys it will employ, how cases will be assigned, what eligibility rules will apply or whether nongovernmental legal providers will continue receiving contracts.
Those details will determine whether the new unit supplements outside legal services or becomes a primary provider for children in immigration proceedings. Staffing announcements, contract documents, court filings and congressional oversight are the next developments to watch.
Sources
- Federal Register organizational notice
- Associated Press report on government lawyers
- HHS unaccompanied children information
Look for updates to this story
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