WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to remove nearly 700 Guatemalan children who had come to the U.S. without their parents, according to a letter sent Friday by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon.

The removals would violate the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s “child welfare mandate and this country’s long-established obligation to these children,” Wyden told Angie Salazar, acting director of the office within the Department of Health and Human Services that is responsible for migrant children who arrive in the U.S. alone.

“Unaccompanied children are some of the most vulnerable children entrusted to the government’s care,” the Democratic senator wrote, asking for the deportation plans to be terminated. “In many cases, these children and their families have had to make the unthinkable choice to face danger and separation in search of safety.”

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Quoting unidentified whistleblowers, Wyden’s letter said children who do not have a parent or legal guardian as a sponsor or who don’t have an asylum case already underway, “will be forcibly removed from the country.”

It is another step in the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement efforts, which include plans to surge officers to Chicago for an immigration crackdown, ramping up deportations and ending protections for people who have had permission to live and work in the United States.

The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest move, which was first reported by CNN. The Guatemalan government declined to comment.

“This move threatens to separate children from their families, lawyers, and support systems, to thrust them back into the very conditions they are seeking refuge from, and to disappear vulnerable children beyond the reach of American law and oversight,” Wyden’s letter says.

Due to their young age and the trauma unaccompanied immigrant children have often experienced getting to the U.S., their treatment is one of the most sensitive issues in immigration. Advocacy groups already have sued to ask courts to halt new Trump administration vetting procedures for unaccompanied children, saying the changes are keeping families separated longer and are inhumane.

In July, the head of Guatemala’s immigration service said the government was looking to repatriate 341 unaccompanied minors who were being held in U.S. facilities.

“The idea is to bring them back before they reach 18 years old so that they are not taken to an adult detention center,” Guatemala Immigration Institute Director Danilo Rivera said at the time. He said it would be done at Guatemala’s expense and would be a form of voluntary return.

The plan was announced by President Bernardo Arévalo, who said then that the government had a moral and legal obligation to advocate for the children. His comments came days after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited Guatemala.

Migrant children traveling without their parents or guardians are handed over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement when they are encountered by officials along the U.S.-Mexico border. Once in the U.S., they often live in government-supervised shelters or with foster care families until they can be released to a sponsor — usually a family member — living in the country.

They can request asylum, juvenile immigration status or visas for victims of sexual exploitation.

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The idea of repatriating such a large number of children to their home country raised concerns with activists who work with children navigating the immigration process.

“We are outraged by the Trump administration’s renewed assault on the rights of immigrant children,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, president and CEO of Immigrant Defenders Law Center. “We are not fooled by their attempt to mask these efforts as mere ‘repatriations.’ This is yet another calculated attempt to sever what little due process remains in the immigration system.”

Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. AP writers Sonia Pérez D. in Guatemala City and Tim Sullivan in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

Minnesota United vs. Portland Timbers

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Allianz Field
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+
Radio: KSTP-AM, 1500
Weather: 75 degrees, partly cloudy, 4 mph north wind
Betting line: MNUFC minus-145; draw plus-310; Portland plus-333

Form: Second-place Loons (14-6-8, 50 points) have won two straight, including a 3-1 win over Salt Lake on Saturday. Sixth-place Portland (10-0-8, 38 points) is winless in three but battled to a scoreless draw with San Diego last weekend.

Recent matchup: The Loons gave up a 92nd minute goal in a 1-1 draw in July at a charged Providence Park, which was holding a 50th anniversary reunion. Anthony Markanich gave Minnesota a lead in the 77th minute, but United couldn’t hold on.

Look-ahead: There are several ways MNUFC can clinch a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs on Saturday, the simplest being with a win. But a draw will work, too, if combined with: a Colorado loss or draw at Kansas City; a San Jose loss at Austin; a Colorado loss at Kansas City and a Houston loss or draw at St. Louis; or a San Jose draw at Austin.

Check-in: Only one of the four new players MNUFC signed in the summer transfer window will be available to play Saturday, forward Mamadou Dieng. The other three — Nectarios Triantis, Dominik Fitz and Alexis Farina — are still waiting on work visas. Their targeted first games will be after the international break, at first-place San Diego on Sept. 13.

Scouting report: Portland signed two Designated Players, winger Kristoffer Velde from Olympiacos and midfielder Felipe Carballo from Gremio.

“They’ve added real quality to a team that has quality,” Loons head coach Eric Ramsay said. “First and foremost, we have to make sure we deal with those top individual players.”

Prediction: Minnesota has one of the stingiest defenses in the West. Portland has not been prolific in front of goal, and is still working in its new attackers. Loons win 1-0.

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One day, Tani Oluwaseyi will be able sit his grandkid on his knee and tell him or her an incredible story. It might even be on the same knee cap he dislocated during his senior year at St. John’s (N.Y.) University, the knee that bothered him at the start of his pro career with Minnesota United.

From humble beginnings in Nigeria to a boyhood move to Ontario, Oluwaseyi will be able to share how he was drafted 17th overall in the 2022 MLS draft but missed most of his rookie season with the Loons because of issues with his knee, as well as a few hamstring strains.

Minnesota United FC chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad speaks with reporters Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025 after the team’s activity during the June 24-July 31 MLS summer transfer window at the National Sports Center in Blaine. (Andy Greder / Pioneer Press)

He only played for MNUFC2, the club’s developmental team, that first year, but Oluwaseyi’s rise began in 2023 with 16 goals and seven assists while on loan with San Antonio in the USL Championship, followed by eight goals and five primary assists with the Loons in 2024 and 10 goals and seven assists this season.

And his best might be yet to come.

Minnesota completed a transfer of Oluwaseyi to Villarreal on Friday, and the 25-year-old will now be able to play in La Liga, one of the best leagues in the world. With a new contract through 2030, he will be able to play against mega clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona, and in the UEFA Champions League starting this season.

The Loons will receive a transfer fee of approximately $9 million for Oluwaseyi, and holds on to an undisclosed sell-on percentage if the Canadian international moves to another club.

The transfer fee is far and away a club record for MNUFC.

“I think everyone should be super proud,” Loons chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad said this week. “I know the teammates are, and I think the coaches are, as well, that we are getting that (kind of) interest in players, that Minnesota is a real club in the sense of developing high-level talent.”

The previous top outbound fee was roughly $2 million for Romario Ibarra to Pachuca in Mexico’s Liga MX in 2020, followed by Sang Bin Jeong for at least $1.6 million to St. Louis City in July, and Micky Tapias to Guadalajara for about $1 million last year.

While $9 million is certainly good for the future, it doesn’t help the Loons’ pursuit of a trophy this year. Oluwaseyi led the team with 17 goal contributions, seven more than No. 2 Joaquin Pereyra (10). His two-way work ethic has helped MNUFC climb to second place in the Western Conference and into the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup.

But Oluwaseyi’s climb to the higher echelons of the sport is the understood, yet bittersweet rub for MLS, which is high-level soccer but not, say, the NBA, NFL, NHL or Major League Baseball.

“So, when you get an offer in, you look at it,” El-Ahmad said. “Is it something the player wants? Because we also want to be an environment where we not only a make a dream happen with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but also for some of our own players to move on.

“Is it the right thing for the club, which means, potentially, the timing or the price that you get? And the third one: Does it help us also short term and medium to long term? So, you look at all aspects.”

The Loons are expected to use the $9 million in a variety of ways: salaries, infrastructure in Blaine and toward future transfer fees. The final determination will be made by the club’s ownership group. But don’t expect United to buy a player at a similar price point. MNUFC’s top incoming transfer fee — $5 million for Emmanuel Reynoso in 2019 — is safe for now.

El-Ahmad was asked if the club has the wherewithal and desire to spend in that ballpark to get a difference maker on the international market. “I think, over time, potentially,” he said.

This summer, the club spent $2.5 million on Greek defensive midfielder Nectarios Triantis and $2.1 million on Austrian attacking midfielder Dominik Fitz. That is in the same ballpark the club spent each on Kelvin Yeboah and Pereyra last summer.

Los Angeles FC spent an MLS record $26 million to bring in Son Heung-min from Tottenham in July.

“I don’t think Minnesota is there at this moment,” El-Ahmad said about the Son deal. “We’re all aligned in the process and continue to improve. If it happens at some point, I would bring it to the ownership group. But at this moment, we’re not there yet.

“I think by showing that we can grow value and sell players, you’re starting to create a narrative that we might be ready for something like that at some point in the future.”

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By MATTHEW PERRONE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has picked Jim O’Neill, a former investor and critic of health regulations serving under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to take control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, following a tumultuous week in which the agency’s director was forced out.

O’Neill, Kennedy’s deputy at the Department of Health and Human Services, will supplant Susan Monarez, a longtime government scientist who had been the CDC director for less than a month.

Monarez’s lawyers said she refused “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.”

O’Neill takes over as acting director of an agency that has been rocked by firings, resignations and efforts by Kennedy to reshape the nation’s vaccine policies to match his long-standing suspicions about the safety and effectiveness of long-established shots.

An HHS spokesperson said Friday that O’Neill would continue to serve as deputy of the department but did not provide details on his new role.

A former associate of billionaire tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel, O’Neill previously helped run one of Thiel’s investment funds and later managed several of his other projects. Those included a nonprofit working to develop manmade islands that would float outside U.S. territory, allowing them to experiment with new forms of government.

He has no training in medicine or health care and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in humanities.

A Washington insider on a team of outsiders

O’Neill has kept a markedly lower profile than Trump’s other top health officials, who all joined the administration as Washington outsiders. He’s also the only one with experience working at HHS, where he served for six years under President George W. Bush.

Those who know him say he’ll likely be tasked with trying to calm the situation at CDC — though it’s unclear what, if any, independence he’ll have from Kennedy.

“Jim O’Neill is a health care policy professional and I don’t think anybody can accuse him of being an RFK Jr. sock puppet,” said Peter Pitts, a former FDA official under Bush. “The question becomes whether the role of CDC director becomes a strictly paper tiger position, where the person only does what they’re told to by the secretary.”

O’Neill is not closely associated with Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement and its efforts against food dyes, fluoride and ultraprocessed foods.

He was also not a major critic of public health measures during the pandemic, unlike Food and Drug Administration chief Marty Makary and other Trump officials. Although O’Neill did use social media to criticize FDA efforts to stop the prescribing of unproven treatments for COVID-19, including the anti-parasite drug ivermectin.

O’Neill has pushed for less regulation

O’Neill has long-standing ties to the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, including Thiel, one of Trump’s leading supporters from Silicon Valley. Like Thiel, O’Neill has expressed disdain for many parts of the federal bureaucracy, saying it hinders advances in medicine, technology and other areas.

During Trump’s first term, O’Neill was vetted as a possible choice to lead the FDA, although his past statements about the agency raised alarms among pharmaceutical and medical technology executives.

In particular, O’Neill proposed doing away with FDA’s 60-year-old mandate of assuring new drugs are both safe and effective in treating disease. In a 2014 speech, O’Neill suggested drug effectiveness could be established after they hit the market.

Trump ultimately nominated Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA official and supporter of the agency’s regulatory approach, as commissioner.

Refusal to break with Kennedy on vaccines

After being nominated to the HHS post, O’Neill voiced his support for the federal government’s traditional system for overseeing vaccines — including the role of the CDC — while refusing to criticize Kennedy’s views on the topic.

“I support CDC’s recommendations for vaccines,” O’Neill told Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy at a confirmation hearing in June. “I think that’s a central role that CDC has. It’s mandated in law.”

In follow-up questions, ranking Democrat Ron Wyden pressed O’Neill on statements by Kennedy downplaying the safety and effectiveness of vaccines to prevent measles and other diseases.

“Secretary Kennedy has not made it difficult nor discouraged people from taking vaccines,” O’Neill responded.

High-stakes vaccine decisions ahead

Within weeks, O’Neill could be asked to sign off on new recommendations from a CDC panel that Kennedy has reshaped with vaccine skeptics. The group is scheduled to meet next month to review vaccinations for measles, hepatitis and other conditions that have long been established on the government schedule for children.

Traditionally, the CDC director signs off on recommendations from the panel. But Monarez was ousted after, among other things, she refused to automatically sign off the committee’s recommendations, according to Dr. Richard Besser, a former CDC acting director who spoke to her.

As an acting official, federal law limits O’Neill to no more than 210 days heading the agency before he must step aside or be formally nominated to the post.

Dr. Anne Schuchat, who served twice as acting CDC director, says there are essentially no limits on the powers of the acting agency chiefs, beyond the time constraints.

“I was told, ‘You’re the director. Do what you need to do,’” Schuchat said.

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Dueling health roles

Both of O’Neill’s roles at HHS and CDC are demanding, full-time jobs that would be extremely challenging for one person to do simultaneously, Schuchat said.

“But if the goal is to have an acting CDC director fulfill a predetermined decision about vaccines, it’s a different story,” Schuchat said.

It won’t help O’Neill that there was an exodus this week of four veteran CDC center directors, leaving the agency with few leaders who have a background in medicine, science or public health crisis management, she added.

AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this story from New York

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.