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In McAllen, Texas, a motion was filed on Tuesday by legal advocates aiming to halt U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from encouraging unaccompanied immigrant children to voluntarily return to their home countries. This practice stems from a federal policy implemented last year.
According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, when border agents detain immigrant children without their parents, they must transfer them to a federal shelter managed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. At these shelters, children are provided with legal representation and an opportunity to consult with an immigration judge. Additionally, they can communicate with their parents via phone before making any decisions about self-deportation or pursuing other legal avenues.
However, the recently introduced policy presents the option of self-deportation prior to the children’s arrival at the shelter. This practice reportedly began in September 2025, as detailed in testimony from CBP officials included in the lawsuit.
If children choose not to self-deport, the policy warns of potential consequences such as prolonged detention, legal action against their adult sponsors in the U.S., and future visa application restrictions, according to the legal advocates’ motion filed on Tuesday.
Attorneys defending Guatemalan children—following an attempted mass deportation in August that was halted—argue that this policy contravenes an existing injunction. This injunction prevents the government from deporting any unaccompanied minors from Guatemala unless they have undergone an immigration court process.
The attorneys are also asking the judge to expand the injunction to cover children from other countries, excluding Mexico and Canada.
CBP did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Some children told attorneys that agents threatened, yelled and coerced them into signing documents they did not fully understand, sometimes due to language barriers.
One girl said an agent forcefully convinced her to sign the papers after she had hurt her leg in a car crash and denied medical treatment.
“I thought I had to sign, but I didn’t know why or what for,” she said in a written declaration filed with the court.
Mishan Wroe, an attorney with the National Center for Youth law, said these minors are not afforded the opportunities granted to them under federal law.
“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,” Wroe said Tuesday.
Michael Julien, a CBP official, wrote in his declaration filed with the court Tuesday that agents only present the self-deport option to some unaccompanied children crossing illegally, and that it is an option presented orally, not in writing.
Attorneys found 13 cases in South Texas where children were subjected to the new policy, but they believe there are more.
“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,” Kate Talmor, senior counsel at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
She said attorneys were only able to find out and intervene on behalf of the 13 children because even though they signed documents to return to their country under CBP custody, a flight was not found in time and they were sent to a shelter.
The federal government will have two weeks to file their opposition and then the judge can determine to intervene and stop the policy from being enforced on Guatemalan children and whether to expand the protection to children from other countries.