Advocates warn expiring contract could leave 24,000 children without legal representation, increasing risk of expulsion.

Immigration advocates have warned that children who entered the United States without documentation or a legal guardian could soon lose their legal representation.

That could lead to higher rates of deportation as a federal contract providing the service expired on Friday.

“We have no understanding of what’s going to happen to those children come next week,” Melissa Lopez, the executive director of Estrella El Paso, said during a news conference earlier this week.

“We don’t know if they’re going to have legal representation. The government as of yet has not identified who will take over this representation,” Lopez said.

The expiring contract paid about 100 legal groups across the country to provide legal services to about 24,000 unaccompanied minors.

The contract allowed the groups to enter government-funded shelters as part of their representation. It was unclear what would happen after the contract expires, or if they would still be allowed to access their young clients.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has not said why it was allowing the contract to expire. The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the care of unaccompanied children, did not reply to a request for comment from The Associated Press on what their policy would be going forward.

The change comes as the Trump administration has pursued a mass deportation campaign, predicated, in part, on speeding up court processes to increase expulsions.

The organisations that spoke at the news conference this week also charged that the Trump administration has been withholding payments even before the contract’s expiration, while simultaneously demanding detailed information about their clients. The providers said they cannot ethically provide the information.

“They are clearly trying to destroy the program by grinding down the financial health of nonprofits. We’ve seen layoffs and furloughs, and we will see a lot more of that if these invoices aren’t paid,” said Michael Lukens, the executive director of the Amica Center.

Several laws seek to protect unaccompanied children, including the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which says the government should facilitate legal representation for children put into deportation proceedings.

Beyond asylum, unaccompanied children can also apply for a special protected status if they cannot return to their home country due to abuse or neglect.

Two Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, Chris Deluzio and Summer Lee, sent a letter to the US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and Acting Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement Angie Salazar earlier this week asking for further details on the contract expiration.

In particular, the letter asked how the government will “ensure its compliance with statutory language and court order requiring that unaccompanied children receive legal services”.

In a statement, Lee said that “children, many of which have fled violence and exploitation, should not be forced to appear in court alone without representation”.