In recent days, the Trump administration has backed down and decided to resume paying lawyers for unaccompanied migrant children in the United States, in response to a court order issued by federal judge Araceli Martínez-Olguin of California. That legal aid had been suspended in March, leaving thousands of children — many of them victims of human trafficking — without support to face deportation proceedings. The abrupt suspension forced organizations to lay off staff and abandon ongoing cases, prompting an immediate backlash from human rights groups who appealed to the courts.

According to NBC News, although the government has finally signed a modified contract with the Acacia Center for Justice, which coordinates more than 100 groups to serve about 26,000 children, funding remains uncertain. That's because a new legislative proposal introduced by House Republicans threatens to eliminate those resources in the next federal budget. The proposal, according to lawyers and advocacy groups, not only cuts the historic budget earmarked for children's lawyers since 2009, but also imposes hefty fees on them and their families, including $5,000 to legally cross the border and up to $8,500 to formalize sponsorships.

Experts in the field of immigration and anti-trafficking warn that this change would have devastating consequences.

Meanwhile, the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services and the House Judiciary Committee remain publicly silent on the issue, without responding to requests for comment, NBC said. The debate now turns to Congress, where the future of unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S. hangs in the legislative balance.