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A Honduran mother and her two children — ages 6 and 9 — sued the Trump administration over their arrest at Los Angeles Immigration Court, the first lawsuit challenging the arrests of children under a new ICE directive targeting courthouses.
The mother brought her two children to the immigration court on May 29 expecting to continue to make a case for asylum after fleeing Honduras because of threats of violence. But like many other immigrants across the country, they were surprised to see their case quickly dismissed as ICE agents waited for them to step out of the courthouse into the hallway.
"There were men waiting for them in civilian clothing. The [ICE agents] detained the family for many hours, and it was a terrifying time for the two children and their mother," said Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School.
"They were crying in fear. One of the agents at one point lifted up his shirt, which displayed the gun that he was carrying," Mukherjee said. "The 6-year-old boy was terrified to see the gun. He urinated on himself and wet all his clothing. No one offered him a change of clothing for many hours."
The family was then transported to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, where they have been detained for several weeks.
The 6-year-old boy has been diagnosed with leukemia and has missed a medical appointment to be treated for worsening symptoms, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in San Antonio by the Immigrant Rights Clinic and The Texas Civil Rights Project.
"The horrors that this family has suffered should never be felt by a child in need of medical care. Arresting immigrants as they step out of a courtroom is a heinous display of disregard for humanity. This family came to the United States seeking safety, but inhumane policies are preventing them from seeking necessary medical care for their child," said Kate Gibson Kumar, a staff attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project Beyond Borders program.
The family had been staying with a relative in Los Angeles for the previous seven months after crossing the border legally for a court appointment through the now-defunct CBP One App to seek asylum last October. They were granted parole status in the U.S. while they waited for their day in immigration court.
"These are two children who were enrolled in a local public school in Los Angeles, where they focused on the arts. Both kids love painting. The little boy loved playing soccer in the park. The family attended church every Sunday," Mukherjee said. "They were embedded and rooted in their community, and their enforced disappearances by the U.S. government should shock all of us."
The lawsuit seeks the family's immediate release, arguing that the arrests violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution — which guarantee due process and prevent unlawful seizures.
"The U.S. government paroled the family into the country, which means the U.S. government determined that this family posed no danger to public security and was not a flight risk. The family confirmed that they weren't a flight risk because they showed up to immigration court to try to do exactly what the U.S. government asked of them," Mukherjee said. "Arresting people without any due process, without any advance notice, without any opportunity to explain their circumstances, that violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment."
The Texas Civil Rights Project said the family was placed in expedited removal, which allows for rapid deportation without a court hearing. The family's attorneys fear they could be deported before their lawsuit is heard.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to TPR's request for comment.
The Trump administration has set a goal of 3,000 immigration arrests per day, or 1 million people per year, claiming that it is targeting violent criminals. ICE data obtained by the Cato Institute show that more than 93% of immigrants arrested this fiscal year were never convicted of any violent offenses.
"Hundreds, if not thousands, of law-abiding noncitizens have been arrested in immigration courts in recent weeks, despite a federal court ruling that the new ICE courthouse arrest policy is unlawful and unconstitutional," she said. "Targeting children under this policy is simply unconscionable."
Immigration courthouse arrests have prompted protests in Los Angeles, San Antonio, and across the country.
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