The US senator Ron Wyden has 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, an Oregon Democrat, 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.
