ICE and HHS agents made unannounced, warrantless visits to three migrant-children legal-aid nonprofits

Agents from ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit and the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General made unannounced visits to the Washington, D.C.-area offices of three nonprofit legal-aid organizations serving unaccompanied migrant children on June 10 and 11, 2026, the groups said in public statements Friday, June 12. Michael Lukens, head of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, said agents visited his organization's offices on Thursday asking for financial records tied to its federal contract to provide legal services to unaccompanied migrant children; the agents had no warrant or paperwork backing the demand, and Amica turned them away. Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, said two HHS Office of Inspector General agents knocked on her organization's office door the same day, likewise without a warrant or subpoena. Ayuda reported a similar visit.

ICE directed inquiries to the Justice Department, which referred them to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (part of HHS); HHS in turn directed questions to its inspector general's office, which said it does not confirm or deny ongoing investigations. Lukens characterized the visits as part of "very quiet and strategic attacks" on immigrant children's legal rights, occurring alongside other administration measures — including officer wellness checks at schools, detentions of sponsors at reunification meetings, and new documentation requirements — that advocates say are together narrowing children's access to counsel in deportation proceedings.