CBP agents are 'coercing' unaccompanied minors into 'voluntary' removal, lawyers say
Source: ABC News
February 25, 2026, 5:23 PM
Customs and Border Protection agents are attempting to return unaccompanied migrant children -- including some protected by a federal court order -- to their home countries before they can meet with an attorney or appear before an immigration judge, according to a court filing.
Attorneys representing a group of Guatemalan minors who were nearly deported over Labor Day weekend as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown alleged on Tuesday that the Trump administration is "engaged in a practice that openly flouts the plain text of the Court's injunction," which blocks the government from removing the minors from the U.S.
Last fall, a judge blocked the administration from deporting 76 unaccompanied Guatemalan children as they sat on planes.
'I feel totally traumatized': Unaccompanied minors from Guatemala describe attempted deportation
Attorneys for the minors argued they were being removed without a final order from an immigration judge, while the government said in court it was removing the children in accordance with the law and at the request of the Guatemalan government and the children's legal guardians.
Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/cbp-agents-coercing-unaccompanied-minors-voluntary-removal-lawyers/story?id=130492864
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