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Thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children could lose their lawyers beginning Friday as federally funded contracts supporting them are set to expire, prompting advocates to warn that the move will leave vulnerable minors to face deportation proceedings frightened and alone.

Since 2003, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has funded a nationwide network of around 100 advocacy groups that have offered legal services to unaccompanied minors who arrived in the United States without their parents or legal guardians, as well as children already in immigration custody.

The Trump administration’s move to withhold over $65 million in congressionally appropriated funding starting late last year forced dozens of nonprofit advocacy groups to trim operations, refuse new clients, or end vital programs altogether. There is no apparent plan for continuing representation for roughly 20,000 children currently receiving legal assistance as they navigate the US immigration courts and deportation process.

“This is a five-alarm fire,” Sen. Jeff Merkley said Thursday on social media. “It’s wrong under every moral code.”

Shaina Aber, executive director of Acacia Center for Justice — one of the nonprofits that received funding through the program — told El País’ Patricia Clarembaux on Thursday, “We don’t know what’s going to happen on August 1 because the government has not informed us of the transition plan for the 20,000 children who have representation under this contract.”

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“It will really depend on whether the attorneys have alternative funding that allows them to continue,” she added.

A child cannot be expected to navigate immigration court alone, yet that is exactly........

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