Wyden tells HHS the Alexandria facility will not serve the best interests of children in federal care
Ron WydenSenate Finance Committee ranking member, in a letter to HHS
In a letter to the head of the HHS Administration for Children and Families, Wyden says he does not believe the Alexandria facility will serve the best interests of children in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and raises PFAS contamination at former military airfields.
Responding to
The Alexandria facility is a detention center for families and children, and the people held there are not free to leave.
“I do not believe that the design, implementation, and operation of this Alexandria facility will properly serve the best interests of children in ORR's care”
Official statement
Where this statement fits
ICE and its contractors call an Alexandria, Louisiana site for families and unaccompanied children a staging center; advocates call it child detention
ICE plans to hold families, unaccompanied children and adult women awaiting removal at a 528-bed former barracks at England Airpark in Alexandria, Louisiana. ICE and the operators call it a staging center for voluntary departures; Sen. Ron Wyden and immigrant rights groups call it child detention.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
The release announces Wyden's letters to Alex Adams, head of the HHS Administration for Children and Families, and to Compass Connections, which it says is expected to operate the planned facility. It quotes both letters, including Wyden's concerns about PFAS contamination at former military airfields and about housing children next to an airstrip used for deportation flights, and his questions about anti-trafficking safeguards and access to legal counsel.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
The release says reports indicate DHS and the Office of Refugee Resettlement plan to use a former military barracks at the Alexandria airport as a short-term holding facility for families and unaccompanied children, next to an airstrip used for deportation flights.
After the quotation
Wyden writes that former military airfields are among the most PFAS-contaminated sites in the country and that the agency has the authority to refuse to place children in conditions that contravene its own child-welfare standards.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the federal plan to hold families and unaccompanied children at the Alexandria site. Wyden says it will not serve the best interests of children in federal care and questions the site's safety, which condemns the plan.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
More from this case
Read the full caseAnovaeon's CEO tells the airpark board the Alexandria project is not a detention center
Anovaeon
“This project right over here is not a detention center, it's a staging center for families who are voluntarily departing this country, admittedly through pretty crappy circumstances on their end.”Read statement
ICE calls the Alexandria site a staging facility for deportations
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
“A staging facility is where illegal aliens await their deportation flight to their destination country or transfer to a detention facility”Read statement
National Immigration Project attorney says the Alexandria site is a detention center and people are not free to leave
National Immigration Project
“There can be no hiding what this is, this is a detention center. People are not free to leave”Read statement
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- Wyden tells HHS the Alexandria facility will not serve the best interests of children in federal care
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The Dispute Index. "Wyden tells HHS the Alexandria facility will not serve the best interests of children in federal care". First published: 2026-11-04. Last updated: 2026-11-04. https://disputeindex.com/events/8105-in-a-letter-to-the-head-of-the