Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, sent the letter Wednesday to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after obtaining what he described as “credible information” that the department was using a list of more than 500 children as targets for an expedited removal process. The letter, obtained by The Guardian, warns that the initiative lacks statutory authority and would bypass legal protections.
“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,” Wyden wrote. He said they have been classified as category 4 children, meaning they have no viable sponsor identified in the U.S. — a relative or vetted individual who vouches for them. The vast majority have legal representation in their immigration proceedings, he stated, and 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.”
The senator argued that the timing of the reported effort coincided with a June 30 deadline for immigration courts to conclude the children’s cases. He alleged that the department was attempting to preempt 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,” he 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 June 26.
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.”
MSI previously reported that Sen. Ron Wyden had demanded transparency over a proposed family and child detention center in Alexandria, Louisiana — a continuing point of oversight as the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies have drawn scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers.