Family sues over US detention in what may be first challenge to
courthouse arrests involving kids
[June 27, 2025]
By HALLIE GOLDEN
A mother and her two young kids are fighting for their release from a
Texas immigration detention center in what is believed to be the first
lawsuit involving children challenging the Trump administration's policy
on immigrant arrests at courthouses.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday argues that the family's arrests after fleeing
Honduras and entering the U.S. legally using a Biden-era appointment app
violate their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable
searches and seizure and their Fifth Amendment right to due process.
“The big picture is that the executive branch cannot seize people,
arrest people, detain people indefinitely when they are complying with
exactly what our government has required of them,” said Columbia Law
School professor Elora Mukherjee, one of the lawyers representing the
family.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an
email requesting comment.
Starting in May, the country has seen large-scale arrests in which
asylum-seekers appearing at routine court hearings have been arrested
outside courtrooms as part of the White House’s mass deportation effort.
In many cases, a judge will grant a government lawyer’s request to
dismiss deportation proceedings and then U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement officers will arrest the person and place them on “expedited
removal," a fast track to deportation.
Mukherjee said this is the first lawsuit filed on behalf of children to
challenge the ICE courthouse arrest policy. The government has until
July 1 to respond.
There have been other similar lawsuits, including in New York, where a
federal judge ruled earlier this month that federal immigration
authorities can’t make civil arrests at the state's courthouses or
arrest anyone going there for a proceeding.
The Texas lawsuit was filed using initials for the children and “Ms. Z”
for the mother. Their identities have not been released because of
concerns for their safety.
For weeks in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the mother has
watched her 6-year-old son's health decline, Mukherjee said. He recently
underwent chemotherapy treatment for leukemia and because of his arrest
missed his check-in doctor’s appointment, Mukherjee said.
“He’s easily bruising. He has bone pain. He looks pale," Mukherjee said,
adding that he has also lost his appetite. "His mom is terrified that
these are symptoms that his leukemia situation might be deteriorating.”
The mother, son and 9-year-old daughter fled Honduras in October 2024
due to death threats, according to the lawsuit. They entered the U.S.
using the CBP One app and were paroled into the country by the
Department of Homeland Security, which determined they didn’t pose a
danger to the community, Mukherjee said. They were told to appear at a
Los Angeles immigration court May 29.
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A protester against immigration raids waves a flag in front of the
300 North Los Angeles Street Federal Building on Sunday, June 15,
2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
President Donald Trump ended CBP One for new entrants on his first
day in office after more than 900,000 people had been allowed in the
country using the app since it was expanded to include migrants in
January 2023.
During the family's hearing, the mother tried to tell the judge that
they wished to continue their cases for asylum, Mukherjee said.
Homeland Security moved to dismiss their cases, and the judge
immediately granted that motion.
When they stepped out of the courtroom, they found men in civilian
clothing believed to be ICE agents who arrested the family,
Mukherjee said. They spent about 11 hours at an immigrant processing
center in Los Angeles and were each only given an apple, a small
packet of cookies, a juice box and water.
At one point, an officer near the boy lifted his shirt, revealing
his gun. The boy urinated on himself and was left in wet clothing
until the next morning, Mukherjee said.
They were later taken to the processing center, where they have been
held ever since.
“The family is suffering in this immigration detention center,” she
said. “The kids are crying every night. They’re praying to God for
their release from this detention center."
Their lawyers have filed an appeal of the immigration judge's May
decision, but they're at risk of being deported within days because
the government says they are subjected to expedited removal,
Mukherjee said.
The arrests of the family were illegal and unjustified, said Kate
Gibson Kumar, an attorney for the Texas Civil Rights project who is
also representing the family.
“The essential question in our case is, when you have these families
who are doing everything right, especially with young children,
should there be some protection there?" Gibson Kumar said. "We say
‘yes.'”
___
Associated Press reporter Nadia Lathan in Austin, Texas, contributed
to this report.
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