Legal advocates seek to halt CBP policy pressuring unaccompanied children to self-deport

U.S. Border Agents Accused of Coercing Migrant Children to Self-Deport

Legal advocates filed an emergency motion Tuesday seeking to halt a controversial U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policy that allegedly pressures unaccompanied immigrant children to agree to voluntary deportation before they can access legal counsel.

The motion, filed in federal court in McAllen, Texas, challenges a practice implemented in September 2023 that allows border agents to present self-deportation options to migrant children immediately after apprehension, before they are transferred to federal shelters where they would normally receive legal assistance.

Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, CBP agents are required to transfer unaccompanied minors to Office of Refugee Resettlement shelters, where children can speak with attorneys, appear before immigration judges, and contact family members before making decisions about their immigration status.

Attorneys representing Guatemalan children claim the policy violates an existing court injunction that prohibits the government from deporting Guatemalan unaccompanied minors without proper immigration court proceedings. This injunction was put in place following the government’s failed attempt to deport dozens of Guatemalan children on a hastily arranged overnight flight last August.

The legal advocates are now asking the judge to expand protection to unaccompanied minors from all countries except Mexico and Canada.

According to testimony filed with the court, some children reported that agents threatened, yelled at, and coerced them into signing documents they didn’t understand, sometimes due to language barriers. One girl alleged that an agent pressured her to sign papers after she injured her leg in a car crash and was denied medical treatment.

“I thought I had to sign, but I didn’t know why or what for,” she stated in a written declaration.

The motion contends that agents threaten children with prolonged detention if they decline to voluntarily return to their home countries. Children are allegedly told that if they refuse deportation, authorities might arrest and prosecute their adult sponsors living in the U.S., and that they could be barred from applying for visas in the future.

“It’s plainly coercive to threaten children with prolonged detention while they are scared and not given the opportunity to speak to counsel or their family before they make a decision that has grave implications for their future,” said Mishan Wroe, an attorney with the National Center for Youth Law.

CBP official Michael Julien submitted a declaration stating that agents only present the self-deportation option to some unaccompanied children crossing illegally, and that this option is presented orally rather than in writing.

Legal advocates have identified 13 cases in South Texas where children were subjected to the new policy, but they believe the actual number is much higher. These 13 cases were discovered only because flight arrangements couldn’t be made in time, resulting in the children being transferred to shelters despite having signed self-deportation documents.

“We believe that this is happening to many, many more children and that the 13 that are mentioned in our motion are just those that kind of slipped through the cracks,” explained Kate Talmor, senior counsel at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.

This legal challenge comes amid heightened tensions over U.S. immigration policy, particularly regarding the treatment of vulnerable populations like unaccompanied minors. Immigration advocates have consistently raised concerns about due process violations at the border and the government’s obligations under both domestic and international law to protect children seeking asylum.

The federal government has two weeks to file its opposition to the motion. The judge will then decide whether to halt the policy for Guatemalan children and potentially extend protection to children from other countries.

CBP did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the allegations.