Unaccompanied Alien Children Program
(UAC Program)
Department of Health and Human ServicesUnaccompanied migrant children in federal custody
Summary
The Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Program, run by HHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement, shelters migrant children who arrive at the U.S. border without a parent or guardian until they can be placed with a family member or sponsor. The FY2027 budget proposes cutting this program's funding by $819 million, a 50% reduction, based on the administration's claim that stronger border security has lowered the number of children arriving and that fewer shelter beds are needed.
Who Is Affected
The cut affects the network of state-licensed shelters, group homes, and case-management and legal-service contractors that care for unaccompanied children nationwide; ORR has served well over 100,000 children a year during peak periods, including 118,938 referrals in FY2023 alone. Nonprofit shelter operators are already losing federal contracts under related funding cuts, including a long-running Catholic Charities shelter in Miami that is closing and New York losing roughly half its unaccompanied-minor shelter beds.
What this cut would actually mean
Fewer beds and staff mean children may spend more time in short-term Border Patrol or influx facilities not designed for extended child care, and some licensed shelters and legal-orientation programs are already shutting down or losing contracts as funding dries up. Reduced case-management and legal support also makes it harder to properly vet sponsors and track children after release, which child-welfare and legal-aid groups warn increases the risk of trafficking or exploitation the program is supposed to prevent.
Sources
- White House floats 12.5% budget cut for HHS in FY2027, reiterates reorganization plan — Reports the administration's FY2027 budget request, including the $819 million cut to the Unaccompanied Alien Children program.
- Department of Health and Human Services FY2027 Budget in Brief — Official federal budget document listing the $819 million UAC program cut and the administration's stated justification about refocusing the program's core mission.
- FACT SHEET: Unaccompanied Children (UC) Program — Provides historical annual referral numbers for the UAC program, showing over 100,000 children served in several recent fiscal years.
- NY's Beds for Unaccompanied Minors Evaporate as Feds End Contracts — Reports that New York state lost about half its ORR-funded shelter beds for unaccompanied children after federal contract terminations.
- Miami shelter for immigrant children closing doors after federal funding cut — Describes a decades-old Catholic Charities shelter for unaccompanied migrant children closing after the federal government ended its funding contract.
- Coalition of more than 100 Legal Organizations Denounce Government's Termination of Unaccompanied Kids Program — Legal aid organizations warn that cuts to services for unaccompanied children leave them without legal representation in immigration proceedings.
Administration's Stated Rationale
“Border security measures reduce UAC arrivals; facility capacity reduced accordingly.”