Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín has once again chosen open borders over American taxpayers, issuing a temporary restraining order late Tuesday to block the Trump administration’s commonsense move to defund legal representation for unaccompanied illegal alien minors.
At the heart of the controversy is a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) decision—aligned with Trump-era priorities—to terminate contracts that funneled millions of dollars to left-wing immigration groups under the guise of helping “unaccompanied minors.”
In February 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to identify and eliminate programs providing financial benefits to individuals without legal status. This order also sought to prevent federal funds from supporting “sanctuary” policies at state and local levels.
As a result, HHS and its Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), issued a cancellation order to the Acacia Center for Justice, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.
Last week, the Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, Social Justice Collaborative, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, Estrella del Paso, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, National Immigrant Justice Center, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, and Vermont Asylum Assistance Project sued the HHS.
These groups whined to the court that HHS’s decision to terminate their gravy train of federal funds would leave them unable to bankroll lawyers for unaccompanied migrant kids. Apparently, they think American taxpayers should foot the bill for every border-jumper’s day in court.
Judge Martinez-Olguin, a known far-left darling tapped by Biden in 2023, didn’t hesitate to flex her activist muscles.
In her 7-page order, she claimed the funding cut violates the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA)—a law twisted beyond recognition by the left to justify endless handouts.
She even had the gall to argue that stopping this boondoggle would cause “irreparable harm” to these nonprofits’ missions.
The judge even had the nerve to say this promotes “efficiency and fairness” in the immigration system. What it really promotes is chaos, rewarding those who flout our laws while mocking the Americans who play by the rules.
Worse yet, Judge Martínez-Olguín’s ruling grants relief not to individual migrants, but to a network of progressive organizations—some of which openly advocate for the abolition of ICE and the dismantling of U.S. borders.
The decision flies in the face of fiscal sanity and national sovereignty, as it undermines the Trump administration’s commitment to end government handouts for those who enter the country illegally.
The judge’s TRO, effective April 2, 2025, forces HHS to keep the spigot open until at least April 16, giving these radical nonprofits time to push for a permanent injunction.
Read the full ruling below:
It can be recalled that during Biden’s first year, the number of unaccompanied minors encountered at the border spiked, with over 120,000 reported in 2021 alone—an increase of roughly 800% compared to Trump’s final year (2020).
Reports indicate that HHS has struggled to keep track of many children after their release to sponsors.
Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General admits that over 320,000 unaccompanied migrant children were lost track of and “are considered at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.”
291,000 of these missing children were never issued Notices to Appear or placed into removal proceedings. 32,000 children failed to appear on their court dates and are now missing.
Clarissa Rippee, a Contract Specialist working in the General Services Administration (GSA) blew the whistle and exposed a $347 million contract for transporting unaccompanied minors.
“My line in the sand moment was when I found out that GSA had awarded a contract to a company to transport unaccompanied minors,” shared current General Services Administration (GSA) Contract Specialist Clarissa Rippee, revealing shocking details about a $347 million contract awarded to the company responsible for transporting unaccompanied minors across the United States. “It felt like someone kicked me in the gut,” Rippee told James O’Keefe.
Read more:
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