DeGette Demands Answers from HHS on Harmful Rollback of Protections for Unaccompanied Children

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01), Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) Interim Director Angie Salazar demanding answers about troubling actions by the Trump administration that appear to endanger unaccompanied children in federal custody. ORR is the agency within HHS that is tasked with caring for unaccompanied children from other countries.

"Congress gave ORR one job when it comes to unaccompanied children: to protect their safety and well-being," said DeGette. "Instead, it appears the Trump administration has turned ORR into an arm of ICE, putting kids in harm's way, prolonging their detention, and coercing them into unsafe situations. Children who come to the United States alone are among the most vulnerable people in our care. It's our duty to treat them with compassion, to keep them safe, and to ensure they're not traumatized by the very system meant to protect them."

The letter outlines a series of recent policies and practices under HHS and ORR that have weakened long-standing child welfare safeguards and blurred the line between the agency's care responsibilities and immigration enforcement. These actions include sharing sensitive information about children and their families with ICE, allowing ICE to conduct interviews with children in federal shelters, and offering cash incentives to encourage detained minors to return to the dangerous conditions they fled.

DeGette also raises concerns that ORR's expanded coordination with ICE has created a new wave of family separations, this time involving children already living in the U.S. whose sponsors have been arrested or deported.

DeGette requested detailed answers from HHS and ORR about these policies and demanded all relevant documents and guidance related to coordination between the two agencies.

A full copy of the letter can be found here(link is external).

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