The Trump administration has awarded a no-bid $158 million contract to Our Rescue, a Utah-based anti-trafficking organization formerly known as Operation Underground Railroad, to provide legal services to unaccompanied migrant children in government custody.
The award, posted by the Department of Health and Human Services, has drawn scrutiny because it is unclear whether the organization employs immigration attorneys, despite its website advertising “legal support to help prosecute offenders.”
The contract became controversial after the administration’s earlier plan to award up to $150 million to a small Texas law firm, Burke Law Group, collapsed when the firm withdrew following reporting on its ties to the administration and lack of immigration law experience.
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