No Borders NewsA federal district court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate a long-running court order that protects the due process rights of unaccompanied immigrant children held by the government. The decision preserves “40-year” safeguards that were put in place after a class action case found children were being pressured to give up legal rights.
According to the reporting, the safeguards include a right for children to speak with a parent, relative, or attorney before being pressured to sign forms that waive legal rights. The court also found the government’s newer “advisal” approach was coercive and unconstitutional.
The case traces back to 1981, when unaccompanied minors sued over allegations that immigration agents were coercing children into signing away their right to a deportation hearing and access to counsel. After a trial, a permanent injunction was issued in 1985, requiring children in immigration custody to be advised of their legal rights.
The excerpt says DHS later tried to end the injunction earlier this year, and that attorneys learned the rights advisal was not being provided uniformly. Instead, DHS had substituted a different notification that warned of serious consequences—such as prolonged detention and possible criminal prosecution of parents—if a child sought legal help or requested a hearing.
For the official background and details, see the National Immigration Law Center’s summary of the case: https://www.nilc.org/press/federal-court-rejects-trump-administration-bid-to-strip-rights-protections-for-immigrant-children/