Texas Asked to Defend Migrant Kids - It Has No Authority to Do It

Every unaccompanied immigrant child facing deportation is legally entitled to a lawyer — it's the law, not a favor. But the federal contract funding that representation for over 20,000 children expires this month, and instead of an open replacement process, reporting from the Texas Tribune reveals a series of phone calls: the Trump administration quietly asking Texas's Attorney General's office, then the ten-person Texas Indigent Defense Commission, to take on the job — an agency with no experience, no funding, and no legal authority to do it. 

John Carlos Frey breaks down the facts. 

https://theraidpodcast.org/ 

https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/03/trump-texas-doj-indigent-defense-unaccompanied-immigrant-children/ 

https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2026-07-06/trump-administration-asks-texas-for-help-providing-legal-services-to-immigrant-kids-facing-deportation 

https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/trump-administration-asks-texas-for-help-providing-legal-services-to-immigrant-kids-facing-deportation/

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