ORR Defends Migrant Child Court Coverage, Says 98% of Hearings Now Have Legal Presence
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Oct 23
ORR Defends Migrant Child Court Coverage, Says 98% of Hearings Now Have Legal Presence
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 23
Summary
ORR officials said reports of toddlers routinely facing immigration court alone are misleading, pointing to a 1-year-old’s case in which legal providers later secured representation after an initial July hearing without counsel.
The agency blamed that lapse on former contractor Acacia Center for Justice, saying it failed to file a notice of appearance despite holding a federal legal-services contract that had received $236.9 million of a $356.3 million award.
After Acacia’s contract ended July 31, ORR shifted oversight to USCRI under a $20 million deal; officials said USCRI now attends hearings as a friend of the court and later enters as counsel.
Salazar said ORR demanded attendance at 100% of hearings for children in its care and is now at about 98%, while also tracking representation case by case after saying Acacia withheld usable performance data.
Officials cast the overhaul as part of a broader tightening of migrant-child management, noting only about 2% of children in ORR custody are under 5 and the current census has fallen to 1,690 from 22,000 a day under Biden.