The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement awarded a contract worth up to $244 million to Our Rescue, an anti-child-trafficking organization based in Sandy, Utah, to advocate for unaccompanied migrant children, according to authorities. The assignment follows the expiration of a key contract with nearly 100 providers through Acacia Center for Justice, leaving thousands of vulnerable minors facing deportation without their previous legal representation.
Contract Rejection by Burke Law Group
According to the Associated Press, the federal government initially announced plans to award representation work to the Burke Law Group, a Houston-based firm with little experience in immigration. However, the firm ultimately declined a $150 million contract offer. The Department of Health and Human Services agency stated that the Burke Law Group declined to apply and did not receive any grant.
The firm’s founder, Marcella Burke, served in President Donald Trump’s first administration as a lawyer with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior. The roster also includes Justin Shubow and conservative legal scholar Ilya Shapiro, who is listed as senior counsel, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Transition to Our Rescue and Temporary Providers
Our Rescue, previously known as Operation Underground Railroad and featured in the 2023 movie “Sound of Freedom,” stepped into the federal fold amid the administration’s push for mass deportations. Founder Tim Ballard resigned from the organization in 2023 following allegations of misconduct, after women filed lawsuits accusing him of exploiting his position to abuse them. Derek Benner, a former senior official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who now serves as Our Rescue’s CEO, welcomed the assignment, stating that the children deserve the full weight of the organization’s experience.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants secured a temporary $20 million contract running through the end of December. Attorneys with the group began appearing unannounced in immigration court to represent children. According to legal service providers, approximately 1,800 children were living in shelters while roughly 22,000 children facing deportation were living with outside sponsors such as family members when the previous Acacia Center for Justice contracts lapsed.
Legal Protections and Ongoing Uncertainty
Congress established legal safeguards for unaccompanied minors entering the United States without their parents. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, the federal government is required to provide legal representation for children placed into deportation proceedings. With temporary providers operating under short-term agreements expiring in December, long-term representation questions persist for children navigating the immigration court system.