Oregon Senator Ron Wyden raises alarms over child support database access for immigration enforcement
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KTVZ) -- Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., are raising concerns about reports that the Department of Health and Human Services plans to share its extensive child support database with immigration enforcement officials. The senators argue that disclosing this information would be unlawful and could expose vulnerable families, including victims of domestic violence, to significant harm.
The Federal Parent Locator Service, or FPLS, was created by Congress to identify and track adults who owe child support. Its purpose is to ensure that child support payments reach children by tracking names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and wage and employer information for every American worker. The FPLS database also includes a Federal Case Registry, which identifies children reported as victims of domestic violence alongside the names and addresses of their family members. Federal law prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from sharing this data, but multiple reports indicate that the Department of Homeland Security requested access to the FPLS within the last month.
Senator Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Senator Whitehouse have written to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to express their concerns. The senators stated that sharing this sensitive information broadly would be dangerous.
“Needless to say, it would be dangerous to share this information more broadly; any alleged abusers who work in government or law enforcement would gain access to private case information about their victims,” Wyden and Whitehouse wrote to the HHS Secretary. “It is clear that the Trump administration seeks to endow DHS with maximal power to hunt down, intimidate, and detain our constituents. But the law places constraints on your ability to do so. The FPLS database exists to protect vulnerable children by ensuring that adults provide the economic support they need.”
Business leaders and child welfare advocates have expressed worries that sharing FPLS data with immigration enforcement could make employers hesitant to report new hires to the government. This hesitation, they believe, would hamper efforts to track adults who owe child support to at-risk children.
Wyden and Whitehouse further warned about the potential impact on child support payments. “Further emboldened with addresses and employment information, we can be certain that DHS would willingly rip these child support payments away from children by detaining and deporting the parents who provide them,” Wyden and Whitehouse continued. “The fact that DHS also seeks to exploit and further disseminate Federal Case Registry information about juvenile victims of domestic violence should shock the conscience."
Wyden has previously challenged unlawful government actions related to Americans' sensitive data. In April 2025, he demanded answers about the Department of Government Efficiency requesting access to the national child support database. In January 2026, Wyden also questioned Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding its abuse of taxpayer data.
Wyden and Whitehouse have demanded answers from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by April 30th. They asked if HHS believes it can lawfully share information from the Federal Case Registry with DHS. The senators also inquired what, if any, information from the FPLS HHS believes it can lawfully share with DHS and requested any legal memoranda prepared by the Office of the General Counsel addressing these questions.
