The Trump administration is set to award a contract for the representation of thousands of unaccompanied minors to a Houston-based law firm that is new to handling significant immigration caseloads.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced its intent to award a $150 million contract to Burke Law Group, a law firm with 26 employees. The announcement was initially posted to the Federal Register on Tuesday, Aug. 6, after being briefly removed from the register.
The document says that the contract was awarded to “provide legal orientation, legal consultation, and attorney-of-record representation services for eligible unaccompanied alien children during immigration proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review and in hearings and proceedings before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services while children remain” in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
According to the firm’s website, they are “a full-service law firm that handles challenging legal issues, significant business transactions, and critical disputes.” But a review of the staff’s profiles shows only two counsel with experience in immigration and asylum cases.
The El Paso Times reached out to Burke Law Group for comment and left a message, but didn’t immediately hear back.
Burke Law Group’s managing partner, Marcella Burke, explained in an a 2024 interview that the firm is for “lawyers whose positions have been terminated from firms she describes as having adopted the ideologies of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as well as Environmental, Social, and Governance standards.”
The non-competitive contract has raised red flags for Democrats.
“The Burke Law Group was just awarded a non-competitive $150 million contract to provide legal services to thousands of unaccompanied minors in ORR care,” U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said in a statement. “This isn’t a small contract. Yet their founder, Marcella Burke, boasted about her firm not having any HR or administrative teams. And according to their website, only two attorneys have immigration experience listed in their area of practice. I seriously doubt they can effectively represent these kids, as required by law. The Trump Administration should cancel this award and choose qualified legal providers. There must also be an independent investigation into how this firm was selected.”
There are over 20,000 children who arrived in the United States without a guardian currently in immigration proceedings. The Trump administration attempted to deport over 600 unaccompanied minors to Guatemala in September 2025 before a judge blocked the deportation.
Legal Aid groups fighting to be paid for what has been provided
The announcement comes as the previous contract for the defense of the minors ended on July 31. The previous contract was held by Acacia Center for Justice, which subcontracted legal aid groups across the country, including El Paso’s Estrella del Paso, to represent the children in court.
Estrella del Paso was formed as a ministry of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1986, before becoming an independent non-profit in 1990.
Acacia Center for Justice put out a statement saying that they believed the children deserved due process and support. They called on the Trump administration to released the $65 million they are owed for services provided.
“We adamantly believe children must continue to be represented by independent attorneys who specialize in immigration law and, equally importantly, know how to work with children,” they said in a statement. “We call on Congress to investigate the administration’s withholding of payments for completed work and the decisions that have destabilized the network Congress funded to protect unaccompanied children. Congress has a responsibility to ensure legal services are administered by attorneys with the expertise, independence, and ethics to represent vulnerable children effectively.”
District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin ruled on Thursday, Aug. 6, that the Trump administration must make the payment to organizations by noon the following day.
Following the end of the contract in July, Estrella del Paso shuttered its unaccompanied minor’s defense program, laying off 23 people. The program’s closing comes as the federal government owes $765,000 to the organization.
The new contract comes as the Trump administration has considered moving more than 20,000 minors who arrived in the United States without legal guardians.
Texas U.S. congressional Democrats questioned the plan. They have raised concerns that moving them to Texas would separate them from support networks and mean they would be “alone in a state that no longer provides oversight of childcare facilities for immigrant children.”
Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:jdabbott@usatodayco.com; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Texas law firm to receive contract for defense of immigrant children
Reporting by Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
