An El Paso legal aid group that represents immigrants and unaccompanied children says it is hanging by a thread after federal reimbursement checks dried up months ago. Estrella del Paso reports it has not received any federal payments since December 2025 and is owed more than $765,000, a gap leaders say will soon force layoffs and cuts to core services. The organization and allied providers have filed a contempt motion and are set to argue their case before a judge in mid-July.
Executive director Melissa Lopez said unpaid invoices have bled the nonprofit’s reserves and triggered an emergency fundraising drive. According to El Paso Matters, the ministry, which is part of the El Paso Catholic Diocese, serves more than 40,000 people a year and began representing unaccompanied children in 2007. Lopez warned that if attorneys have to step away, many children will face a dramatically higher risk of deportation.
Judge’s injunction and the law
In April 2025, a federal judge in San Francisco blocked the administration from cutting off funding for lawyers who represent unaccompanied children, ruling that the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act requires the government to ensure counsel. The order came in Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto v. HHS, and the judge wrote that keeping the money flowing promotes fairness and efficiency in immigration courts. The court’s reasoning is laid out in the public docket and related filings in the U.S. District Court order.
Contempt motion and court timeline
This month, Estrella del Paso and other nonprofit providers asked that same judge to step in again, filing a contempt motion that accuses HHS of violating the injunction and urges Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín to enforce her ruling. El Paso Matters reports that the plaintiffs submitted the motion on July 1 and that Martínez-Olguín set a hearing for July 16, giving HHS until July 10 to file a written response. The government’s contract with the legal service providers is scheduled to expire July 31, a date advocates say turns the upcoming hearing into a high-pressure deadline.
What the government says
Government lawyers have pushed back, arguing that payments for these legal services are discretionary rather than mandatory and saying they need more documentation before releasing any back pay. In a June email to attorneys, Justice Department lawyer Michael Celone said HHS was now requiring extra detail on legal invoices before it would cut checks, a demand providers describe as onerous and potentially risky for privileged client information, as reported by Religion News Service. HHS and Justice Department spokespeople had not publicly walked back that position in the lead-up to the contempt hearing.
KIND pulls out and the network strains
On June 30, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), a major national nonprofit that supplies lawyers for immigrant children, notified the government it would end its subcontract under the federal program because it was owed more than $20 million in overdue payments. KIND said federal officials were demanding information that could jeopardize attorney-client privilege and that the prolonged delays threatened the organization’s long-term stability. The decision highlights how the logjam in federal reimbursements is squeezing the specialized network that represents unaccompanied children, according to a KIND press release.
Local leaders urge support
El Paso faith leaders and national advocates are now sounding the alarm, urging donations and quick action to prevent a service collapse that would leave kids in court with no one at their side. Bishop Mark Seitz has encouraged El Paso residents to support Estrella del Paso, and former HUD Secretary Julián Castro labeled the funding freeze a “five-alarm fire” for vulnerable children. Those reactions were reported by Religion News Service, which republished reporting from El Paso Matters.
Why this matters
Whether a child has a lawyer in immigration court can be the difference between staying and being deported. Kids with counsel are far more likely to appear for every hearing and to win some form of relief. A ProPublica analysis found that unaccompanied minors are now being detained and removed at roughly three times the rate they were under the last Trump administration, a spike advocates say makes timely legal help even more crucial. Local providers warn that if federal payments do not stabilize, many children will have to navigate complex proceedings completely alone.
What to watch: the contempt hearing is set for July 16, and the main federal contract expires July 31. If the court orders HHS to resume full reimbursements, providers could get a short-lived lifeline. If that does not happen, Estrella del Paso and other nonprofits say they will need urgent backing from philanthropies and local governments just to keep the lights on. Donors and legal partners have launched short-term relief efforts, but leaders stress that private money cannot substitute for long-term federal support for specialized legal representation for children.
