The agency legally charged with protecting children in federal custody is allegedly building an expulsion list to send them back to the countries they fled.

"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."

— Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., June 25, 2026

Senator Ron Wyden dropped a bombshell letter on Thursday accusing the Department of Health and Human Services of constructing an "unprecedented legal framework" to deport more than 500 unaccompanied migrant children currently in federal custody. The children, who fled war and violence in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Afghanistan, are housed in long-term foster care arrangements run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the very program designed to keep them safe.

According to Wyden's letter, obtained and reported by The Guardian and other outlets, HHS has compiled a list of children classified as "category 4" meaning they have no viable sponsor identified in the United States. The department is allegedly using an expedited removal process that Wyden says has no statutory authority. The children have been in federal custody for at least 180 days, and the vast majority have legal representation in their immigration proceedings.

Wyden described the effort as "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 timing of HHS's alleged initiative is not incidental. Immigration courts face a June 30 deadline to conclude these children's cases. Wyden called the internal screening process "a transparent attempt to evade imminent judicial oversight and cut off all unaccompanied children's access to legal remedies."

Translation: HHS is trying to deport the children before a judge gets the chance to rule on whether they should be allowed to stay.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has targeted the Unaccompanied Children Program. As The Lever reported on June 12, ICE agents attempted to raid the offices of attorneys representing unaccompanied migrant children, demanding sensitive client data. The administration has also frozen payments to legal aid nonprofits that provide representation in deportation proceedings, putting pressure on the organizations from multiple directions.

The pattern is clear: cut off the children's legal support, demand their case files from their own lawyers, then use an untested administrative mechanism to remove them before the courts can intervene.

HHS responded to the allegations with a statement calling Wyden's concerns "irresponsible fear mongering." A spokesperson said there are "no plans to target these children" and framed the administration's actions as efforts to "identify the parents or legal guardians of unaccompanied alien children in our care."

The spokesperson blamed the Biden administration for rushing the release of children "without adequate sponsor vetting, leaving thousands vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and trafficking."

This framing deserves scrutiny. The Biden administration's handling of the Unaccompanied Children Program was certainly imperfect, but the current approach goes a step further: it takes children already in foster care, many with legal counsel, and targets them for removal based on an administrative list rather than individualized court proceedings. The distinction matters. Finding missing sponsors is one thing. Building an expulsion pipeline for children who are already placed in long-term care is another.

Wyden noted that his Senate Finance Committee has sent four previous oversight letters to HHS asking about the department's "reorientation of ORR away from its statutory child welfare mission." The department has not responded substantively to any of them. The letter demands a written response by June 26, 2026.

The children at risk are from some of the most dangerous regions on earth. El Salvador remains controlled by gang affiliates despite the Bukele government's crackdown, with reports of mass arbitrary detention. Honduras is one of the most unequal and violent countries in Latin America, where child trafficking is endemic. Afghanistan under the Taliban has banned girls from attending secondary school and college, and children face severe restrictions on movement and education. Guatemala's child protection systems have collapsed under years of austerity and corruption.

Sending children back to these conditions is not immigration policy. It is abandonment dressed up as enforcement.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement was created by the Runaway and Homeless Children Amendments of 1988, later expanded by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which gave it specific obligations to protect unaccompanied children from countries lacking adequate child protection systems. The law was designed for exactly this population: children fleeing countries where the state itself is the danger.

The broader context is worth noting. While the administration focuses on deporting children in federal custody, it has simultaneously pushed to privatize legal aid for the same population. The Lever reported in June that the administration is poised to replace nonprofit legal services with for-profit alternatives, further degrading the quality of representation these children receive.

Meanwhile, the California billionaire tax story dominated headlines for a different reason: billionaire Sergey Brin spent tens of millions trying to kill a 5 percent wealth tax that would have raised an estimated $100 billion to fund healthcare, education, and food aid. Brin left California in late 2025 to avoid the potential levy. The measure was certified for November's ballot on Thursday despite a coordinated effort by Gov. Gavin Newsom and billionaire-funded groups to stop it.

The contrast is worth sitting with: the Trump administration is targeting children who have nothing while billionaires with everything deploy armies of lawyers, lobbyists, and ballot measures to protect their fortunes.

Wyden's letter is a single document, but it reveals a coherent strategy. The administration is working to strip protections from the most vulnerable people in its custody, circumvent the courts, and remove an entire class of children before anyone can mount an effective legal challenge.

The question is not whether HHS will face consequences for this plan. The question is whether the children will be gone by the time anyone stops it.

immigration, children, hhs, trump