Utah's Our Rescue lands a $244M contract to coordinate immigrant-child legal aid, drawing questions about qualifications

The Department of Health and Human Services awarded Utah-based Our Rescue a contract worth up to $244 million over up to five years to arrange qualified legal representation for about 24,000 unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children. Critics say the group, known for anti-trafficking work, is “wholly unqualified” to provide immigration defense and lacks a national network of immigrant-law attorneys. Our Rescue is led by a former top ICE/DHS official; the arrangement follows a period of funding shifts for the program and could face administrative or legal challenges. The contract also comes after the organization’s predecessor, OUR, faced controversy and restructuring.