DHS advised immigrant children to self-deport until a California judge stepped in
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WASHINGTON — Last September, the Department of Homeland Security started advising unaccompanied immigrant children that they could either self-deport or expect to face long-term detention.But a federal judge in Los Angeles on Mondayordered the government to stop using such “blatantly coercive” language, ruling that the new advisals, as they are known, violated a 40-year-old court order that bans immigration agents from pressuring unaccompanied children to give up asylum claims and leave the U.S.
According to court documents, the legal advisal was given to recently detained immigrant children.Unaccompanied children are those in the country without a parent or legal guardian.
The minors were told they had the option to return to their country, that doing so would result in no administrative consequences and that they still could apply for a visa in the future.But the children also were told that if they chose to seek a hearing with an immigration judge or indicated that they were afraid to leave the U.S., they could expect to be held at a detention facility “for a prolonged period of time.” Those who turned 18 while in custody would be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation, they were told.
The advisal, though generally passed on verbally, was written out in court documents by lawyers representing the immigrant children, which the government did not dispute.“If your sponsor in the United States does not have legal immigration status, they will be subject to arrest and removal,” the advisals continued.“The sponsor may be subject to criminal prosecution for aiding your illegal entry.”U.S.
District Judge Michael W.Fitzgerald said that “such a threat disturbingly mirrors” the testimony of Jose Antonio Perez-Funez, a plaintiff in a 1980s class-action lawsuit challenging the tactics of immigration officers.Perez-Funez, who was 16 ...