Senator Ron Wyden accuses US health agency of plan to deport more than 500 migrant children

Ron Wyden, a US senator of Oregon, accused the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of preparing to use what he describes as an “unprecedented legal framework” to deport more than 500 unaccompanied migrant children currently in the custody of the agency’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).In a letter addressed to the HHS secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Wyden said he had obtained “credible information” that the department was using a list of more than 500 children as targets for expedited removal under a new administrative process that he says lacks statutory authority. He called the reported initiative “deeply alarming” and urged HHS to immediately suspend any related screening or removal efforts.Wyden’s letter said: “Based on information available to me, the children on this list have been mainly placed in long term foster care with ORR providers around the country and all have been in federal custody for at least 180 days”. He wrote that they had been classified as category 4 children, meaning they have no viable sponsor identified in the US – a relative or vetted individual who vouches and advocates for them.The senator also stated that the vast majority had legal representation in their Immigration proceedings. He warned that proceeding with removals without involving those attorneys would constitute “a severe breach of due process”.Wyden said the information suggested HHS was laying the groundwork for another removal initiative, this time potentially sending children back to “dangerous conditions” in their countries of origin, which include Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Afghanistan, according to the letter.“This is a severe institutional failure that places hundreds of vulnerable children in immediate jeopardy, effectively erasing them from the protection of US oversight and thrusting them back into danger,” the letter said. “To weaponize the very agency charged with their protection is an unacceptable escalation of executive overreach that undermines our nation’s commitment to due process.”He argued that the timing of the reported effort coincided with a 30 June 2026 deadline for Immigration courts to conclude the children’s cases and alleged that the department was attempting to pre-empt judicial decisions by conducting a parallel internal screening process.“The timing is not coincidental; it is a transparent attempt to evade imminent judicial oversight and cut off all unaccompanied children’s access to legal remedies,” the senator wrote.Wyden also criticized HHS for failing to respond substantively to four previous oversight letters concerning what he described as the department’s “reorientation of ORR away from its statutory child welfare mission”. He said the Senate finance committee has been unable to obtain answers while the department allegedly prepares a mechanism to remove children in its custody.The letter demands that HHS immediately suspend any screening or removal initiative involving children in ORR custody and provide a written response by 26 June 2026.In a statement to the Guardian, an HHS spokesperson said: “Despite this irresponsible fear mongering, there are no plans to target these children. The Biden administration rushed the release of these children without adequate sponsor vetting, leaving thousands vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. The Trump administration is working to identify the parents or legal guardians of unaccompanied alien children in our care because ensuring every child is placed with a properly vetted sponsor is our top priority.”