U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and five other Senate Democrats are urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reverse a decision that would have HHS attorneys represent unaccompanied migrant children in immigration court, calling it a conflict of interest.

Duckworth was joined on the letter by Sens. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. The letter was released Monday, Oct. 19.

"HHS holds these children in custody, decides where they live and shares information about them and their families with immigration enforcement. HHS cannot also be their lawyer," the senators wrote. "The immigration judge works for the Trump Administration. So does the prosecutor. Under your plan, so would the child's lawyer. That is unacceptable."

The senators point to a notice HHS published in the Federal Register on Sept. 29, 2026, creating an Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division within the department's Office of the General Counsel. According to the notice cited in the letter, the division "provides direct legal services to unaccompanied alien children," including legal orientation and representation in immigration court, and reports to the General Counsel.

What the senators are demanding

The letter makes two demands of Kennedy:

  • Rescind the decision creating the division and confirm in writing, no later than Oct. 30, 2026, that no HHS attorney will represent an unaccompanied child in immigration proceedings.
  • Restore independent counsel by making every effort to use pro bono lawyers, as required under the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, and by funding independent legal service providers through competitive, merit-based awards.

The conflict the senators describe

The senators argue the 2008 law requires HHS to make every effort to secure independent pro bono counsel to represent children "in legal proceedings or matters and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking." They say HHS employees are not the independent legal service providers that the department's own regulations require.

Division attorneys would be HHS employees supervised by the HHS General Counsel, the letter says, while facing Department of Homeland Security attorneys seeking a child's removal before an immigration judge who answers to the U.S. attorney general. The senators say the conflict is sharpest for children seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile status, because a lawyer might have to challenge the same agency that employs them over placement and release decisions.

The senators also warn the arrangement would discourage children from reporting abuse, trafficking or dangerous family circumstances for fear the information would reach immigration enforcement. They cite the senators' account of internal federal data reported by Reuters indicating immigration authorities have arrested more than 12,000 people, including children and sponsors, after tips from the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Background in the letter

The senators say HHS let a contract covering more than 20,000 children expire on July 31, 2026, after withholding payments to legal service providers in late 2025. They note a federal court in August ordered HHS to pay more than $65 million in overdue invoices. The letter says the department turned to a small law firm that withdrew and to the nonprofit Our Rescue, whose $158 million no-bid contract is stayed, leaving children with a temporary provider, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. The senators state that in August a one-year-old appeared in an Arizona immigration court without a lawyer.

"HHS cannot serve as both custodian and counsel. You must meet your statutory obligation to these children," the senators concluded. "Unaccompanied children deserve lawyers whose only loyalty is to them. We demand that you rescind this harmful policy before a single HHS attorney stands beside a child in immigration court."

The full text of the letter is available on Sen. Duckworth's website.

Source: the original release