Estrella del Paso is among nearly 100 legal groups across the country that provide services to roughly 20,000 children under a federal contract. Funds for the program have been appropriated by Congress for nearly two decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s administration allowed the contract to end Friday while still owing organizations more than $65 million \u2013 including $1 million to Estrella del Paso for services that have already been provided. That number will increase after July invoices are submitted, Estrella del Paso said in a news release.<\/p>\n
The organization, a program under the El Paso Catholic Diocese formerly known as Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, laid off 13 employees Friday.<\/p>\n
SEE ALSO: Children being separated from parents as ICE arrests in El Paso surge<\/a><\/p>\n A federal judge in Oakland, California, is hearing a request from the legal services providers to hold the Trump administration in contempt of court for violating her earlier ruling that blocked an effort to defund the program. The Trump administration disputes the allegation. The next hearing is set for Aug. 6.<\/p>\n The organizations say that the Trump administration has been withholding payments as it demands detailed information from the providers about their clients that the providers say they have never been asked for before and that they ethically cannot provide.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me be clear when I say that we will not breach our legal or ethical obligations as attorneys by disclosing confidential information,\u201d Lopez said in the video.<\/p>\n The move comes as the Trump administration has redoubled its efforts to achieve its policy of mass deportations, and after migrant children have become a target for removal from the country.<\/p>\n PODCAST: Inside El Paso\u2019s fast-tracked immigration court, where migrant children often lack attorney\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Estrella del Paso, which currently represents more than 240 migrant children, is asking for the public\u2019s help<\/a> to ensure it can continue to provide services to them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an ethical, legal and moral obligation to continue representing these children, and with or without money from the federal government, we must do that,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cWe need your help to make sure that we can keep our doors open and continue to see through on our responsibility to these children.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: \u2018Me quiero ir con mi pap\u00e1\u2019: Inside El Paso\u2019s fast-tracked immigration court for unaccompanied children\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Unaccompanied children are those who enter the United States without a parent or guardian \u2013 though others have been deemed unaccompanied when they\u2019re separated from parents or guardians who are detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMany of these children are survivors of trafficking, violence, and persecution and they have a legal right to legal services and legal representation under U.S. law,\u201d Lopez said.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u201cWithout a lawyer, children win the right to stay less than 1% of the time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As part of the expiring contract, the legal groups can enter government-funded shelters and give presentations to children about their legal rights, and directly represent the children as they go through immigration court proceedings.<\/p>\n But as that contract ends, the providers say it\u2019s unclear what will happen come Monday or whether they\u2019ll be able to visit their clients in the shelters where they live.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have no understanding of what\u2019s going to happen to those children come next week. We don\u2019t know if they\u2019re going to have legal representation. The government as of yet has not identified who will take over this representation,\u201d Lopez said during a news conference earlier this week.<\/p>\n The Associated Press<\/a> contributed to this report.<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n \t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/CR-JRC-UAM.png\")
J.R.C., at right, an 11-year-old from Venezuela, walks with staff from an Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter for unaccompanied migrant minors in El Paso after a July 7, 2026, immigration hearing. (Cindy Ramirez \/ El Paso Matters)<\/p>\n