More than 425,000 children are currently handling their own immigration cases as they face possible deportation in the United States, according to new data analyzed from the Department of Justice.
The findings show that 425,093 of the 751,861 children with pending removal cases do not have legal representation. That equals about 57 percent of all children waiting for their immigration cases to be decided.
The figures were reported Friday by Drop Site News after the Vera Institute of Justice analyzed data from the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
“The scale is alarming,” Neil Agarwal, the principal data scientist who led the analysis at the Vera Institute of Justice, told the outlet.
The data comes as President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign continues to draw national attention. Public debate has largely focused on Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and conditions inside detention centers. Less attention has been paid to the large number of children moving through the immigration court system, many without attorneys to represent them.
The Department of Homeland Security said it could not confirm the accuracy of the figures published by Drop Site News.
“All illegal aliens receive full due process. ICE gives all illegal aliens arrested a court-approved list of free or low-cost attorneys. Illegal aliens in detention have access to phones they can use to contact their lawyers,” an agency spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also pointed to the number of unaccompanied migrant children who entered the country during President Joe Biden’s administration.
“What’s truly alarming is the 450,000 unaccompanied children that came in through the border under the Biden administration.
“Sadly, during those four years, many of these children who came across the border unaccompanied were placed with unvetted sponsors who were actually smugglers and sex traffickers. Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS has located 146,000 of these children,” the spokesperson said.
According to the Vera Institute’s analysis, nearly two-thirds of the children’s pending removal cases began in 2023 during the Biden administration.
The report also found that legal representation remained uncommon in completed cases. Last year, about 64 percent of children’s removal proceedings concluded without a lawyer.
The outcomes differed sharply depending on whether children had legal counsel. Among completed cases, seven percent of children represented by attorneys received some form of legal relief allowing them to remain in the United States. For children who represented themselves, fewer than one percent obtained the same result, according to Drop Site News.
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Separate concerns have emerged over reports involving unaccompanied migrant children currently in federal custody.
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said the Trump administration has identified more than 500 unaccompanied children who could face expedited removal.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Wyden said he had received “credible information” that the Department of Health and Human Services was using a list of more than 500 children under the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement “as targets for expedited removal under an unprecedented legal framework.”
Wyden, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, said the “vast majority” of those children already have legal representation in their immigration cases.
“Given the imminent threat to these children’s safety and legal rights, time is of the essence,” Wyden wrote. “I demand the immediate suspension of any screening initiative and planned removal action involving children in ORR care.”
The Department of Health and Human Services rejected the claim in a statement provided to CNN.
“Despite this irresponsible fearmongering, there are no plans to target these children.”
“The Trump Administration is working to identify the parents or legal guardians of unaccompanied alien children in our care because ensuring every child is placed with a properly vetted sponsor is our top priority,” the spokesperson said.
