The federal government has appealed a district court’s preliminary injunction blocking the government from withdrawing funding for the legal representation of unaccompanied children–representation that the government is required to fund “to the greatest extent practicable” by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. The case was brought by eleven legal service providers from all over the country that, until funding was terminated on March 21, 2025, provided representation and related services to unaccompanied children with funding from the federal government.
In addition to appealing the district court’s injunction, the federal government asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to stay (pause) the district court’s injunction while the parties litigate the appeal. On May 14, the Ninth Circuit denied the government’s request to stay the district court’s preliminary injunction, holding that the government had failed to make the necessary “strong showing” that the case presents a contract dispute that should have been filed in the Court of Federal Claims, or that the government’s decision to terminate funding for legal representation was a discretionary agency decision that the federal courts had no jurisdiction to review.
On May 28, the federal government moved for a rehearing en banc, asking a larger panel of the Ninth Circuit to reconsider the decision of the three-judge panel. On October 10, the larger panel denied the government’s petition for rehearing en banc.
