Congressional Democrats sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday, urging him to rescind a new policy they say violates the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children and makes them vulnerable to deportation.

Under the policy, unaccompanied minors would be represented in court by HHS lawyers instead of independent attorneys, a change the lawmakers say creates a conflict of interest, given the administration’s desire to deport as many immigrants as possible and the health department’s role in detaining the children.

“The immigration judge works for the Trump administration. So does the prosecutor. Under your plan, so would the child’s lawyer. That is unacceptable,” wrote Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin (Ill.), Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey (Mass.), Adam Schiff (Calif.), and Ron Wyden (Ore.).

As I reported earlier this month, HHS had quietly announced the creation of a new division, the Unaccompanied Alien Children Legal Representation Division, to perform this legal work. Kennedy’s agency also oversees the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for placing kids in shelters after they cross the border alone and deciding when to release them to relatives in the United States.

“They’re just ordering everybody removed—even good asylum claims where the kids are genuinely going to be killed.”

Under President Trump, ORR is holding kids significantly longer than it had under Biden—about six months on average; it also is sharing information with ICE. “HHS holds these children in custody, decides where they........

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