RFK seeks an $819M reduction for HHS office managing fewer lone migrant children
A new budget proposal from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy included reductions for a federal program tasked with managing lone migrant children. His budget is one of several cabinet officials sent to the White House for possible adoption by Congress.
From fiscal year 2024 to 2025, the department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement received 75,523 fewer migrant minor referrals from the Department of Homeland Security — a 76.8% decline. Those referrals are put into the agency’s Unaccompanied Alien Children program to assist with placement and care within the U.S.
And Kennedy envisions the program getting a $819 million budget cut for fiscal year 2027, according to proposals from the White House and HHS. He estimated the program to have a $3.4 billion budget.
“This decrease reflects the Administration’s successful efforts to secure the border and minimize the number of UAC entering the country,” according to Kennedy’s budget request. “At the same time, the request supports this Administration’s unending commitment to protecting UAC from child trafficking and labor exploitation, including sustaining efforts to ensure children previously released to sponsors are in safe and stable conditions.”
The 19.3% budget cut for UAC is sound, David Bier, director of immigration studies at Cato Institute, told Straight Arrow News on Wednesday. He noted the decline of migrant minors parallels the overall drop in immigration the U.S. has seen for about two years.
Bier added that the program started in 2003 to ensure migrant children weren’t being detained in jail-like settings intended for adults and were kept out of harm’s way. The program has cared for more than 800,000 minors since its inception, according to the program’s fact sheet.
Russell Vought, director for the White House Office of Management and Budget, wrote in the White House’s proposal that the program needs to be reworked to continue care for the vulnerable population while also protecting them from exploitation.
“Balancing the decline in arrivals with a new $300 million investment from the Working Families Tax Cut Act for enhanced UAC sponsor vetting,” Vought wrote, “the Budget proposes to rightsize funding for the overhauled UAC program.”
The proposals are nothing more than suggestions until Congress votes to pass them.
Program remains funded at $3.4B
If Congress passes Vought’s budget proposal for HHS, the Unaccompanied Alien Children program would be reduced from $4.24 billion to $3.42 billion for the next fiscal year, according to a report from Alex Adams, assistant secretary of the Administration for Children, Families and Communities.
The Trump administration has not expressed intentions to end the program, which can only be done by Congress. By law, HHS must care for all migrant minors who are in the U.S. without a guardian. Children could be transferred to the program from other federal agencies, or while attempting to cross a border into the country.
The department requires prospective sponsors to undergo background checks and assessments before being identified as a possible placement for a child. Children attend immigration proceedings while in placement until their cases are closed.
Despite the sharp declines of referrals, Bier remained skeptical about the program’s total elimination. It would require a drastic change in immigration policy, he said, to end the program.
The alternative of having states administer the program isn’t viable as immigration is a federal process and becomes the federal government’s responsibility to maintain, Bier said. Coordination could be done with governors for partnerships, but he said it still remains the federal government’s responsibility.
“There’s not really an alternative here,” he said. “The best way to reduce the need for it would be to make sure that kids have a safe way to immigrate legally.”
Adams’ report regarding his agency’s proposed budget keeps programs active that migrant children would need. He reported that the Transitional and Medical Service and Refugee Support Services would be the only other cuts for refugee assistance, with a $768 million reduction.
ACFC wants to hire 19 employees with a $7B program reduction
The budget for Adams’ office is set to reduce spending for its programs by about $7 billion, according to budget estimates, but has plans to hire 19 more full-time employees.
The proposal didn’t get into specifics about the new hires. According to the document, the office had 2,296 full-time employees in fiscal year 2025, then dropped 24.8% in 2026 to 1,727 employees. It’s not immediately known if that drop was derived from cuts the Department of Government Efficiency made in 2025.
Still, the office looks to eliminate 10 programs, reduce spending for 10 others and increase spending for independent living programs under the disability office. Twenty-eight programs and initiatives under the Administration for Children, Families, and Communities are to remain stagnant under Kennedy’s proposed budget.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
