Estrella del Paso accuses the Trump administration of refusing to pay reimbursements; litigation is ongoing

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Estrella del Paso, a local immigration legal clinic that operates as a ministry of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso, is accusing the federal government, specifically the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, of not paying them around $765,000 owed in reimbursements for the past six months.

These reimbursements come under the Unaccompanied Children program, in which Estrella del Paso has hundreds of pending cases.

Melissa M. Lopez, the executive director of EDP, says it is a frustrating situation because they need to look for other means to provide those legal services to the migrant children they are currently representing.

ABC-7 reported that last year, the federal government tried to terminate the program for unaccompanied children to keep them from receiving legal representation, in which Estrella Del Paso, along with other plaintiffs, went into court last year to fight this termination.

"This feels like another form of trying to terminate the program now by not paying us money that we've earned under this contract," executive director Lopez said. "The way this contract works is we provide the services, we provide proof of that to the government, and then they reimburse us, so then they pay us the money that we're owed based on the services that we provided."

The last time the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families paid Estrella Del Paso was late last year and it has been operating for six months without those reimbursements.

"We're definitely struggling financially because when we don't have the cash flow coming in, then it makes it hard for us to be able to meet the obligations that we have, whether that be bills that need to be paid, but also paying salaries for staff, so we are struggling financially and that's why we're trying to do what we can to raise funds as quickly as possible to avoid a possible worst case scenario and avoid coming to that," she added.

"It is getting to a critical point where it's getting harder and harder to make that work and that's why we're we're making this plea for financial donations to the community and also to our philanthropic partners to try and increase our cash flow so that we will get to a point where we can focus on the work that we need to do, which is really difficult as it is," Lopez also said.

For Estrella Del Paso, this only affects all the people they serve and represent, because if they don't have the resources the legal clinic offers, they face immediate deportation.

"I have tried to be as transparent with the entire team as I can be in terms of what's going on and sharing with them information as I have it, especially critical information, because I would hate for them to find out about something important through the media or because somebody mentioned something to them, so I've tried to be as transparent with them as I can as to where we are right now and the circumstances and what we're facing," Lopez also said.

The ongoing lawsuit is limited exclusively to this program, given that it receives federal funding and the government can decide whether or not to award the grant to another organization.

"For us, the bottom line is making sure that these children receive legal representation; that's the most important part," Lopez added. "If the program were to be given to somebody else, which would be essentially what could happen if we aren't successful in the lawsuit and as long as children are receiving the services that they're entitled to, that's really what we're fighting for."

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar posted a response on social media Tuesday to the Trump administration's alleged refusal to pay more than $765,000 owed to Estrella del Paso.

Congresswoman Escobar issued the following statement on Instagram:

"Estrella del Paso has been a lifeline for immigrant families in our community, providing the legal support that makes our justice system fairer and more accessible. The Trump Administration’s decision to withhold funding for unaccompanied minors has placed that mission in jeopardy, created unnecessary uncertainty for the people who depend on it, and deliberately attacked due process. Every day these funds remain frozen puts essential legal services for children and the future of Estrella del Paso at greater risk - reimbursements should be released now."

ABC-7 reached out to the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for comment.

HHS provided us with the following statement:

"The Administration for Children and Families does not comment on matters subject to ongoing litigation."

Executive Director Lopez says they have several hundred unaccompanied children cases pending and some have lasted years, so for them, they still have a legal obligation to those children and want to find the means to be able to keep representing all of them moving forward.

Estrella Del Paso invites those who wish to donate to programs for unaccompanied children to do so; for more information, you can click here.