The move is the latest in a string of actions stripping key resources from immigrants in the United States, including children who now face deportation. Immigrant Defenders Law Center, a group that for decades has been the largest provider of legal services for unaccompanied children who cross the U.

A stop-work order by the Interior Department halts legal work for children who crossed the border without their parents.

The primary contractor providing the legal services said it helps 26,000 unaccompanied minors who are seeking permission to remain in the country legally.

Affected organizations said the move would prevent them from offering critical legal services to migrant children who crossed the U.S. southern border without their parents or legal guardians.

The Trump administration ordered legal service providers working with unaccompanied migrant children to stop their work, according to a memo obtained by CNN.