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.

• A mother, her 6-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter are fighting for their release from a Texas immigration detention center
• The lawsuit says the family’s arrests after fleeing Honduras due to death threats and entering the U.S. legally using the CBP One app violate their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights
• Elora Mukherjee, a lawyer representing the family, said this is the first lawsuit filed on behalf of children to challenge the ICE courthouse arrest policy
• Mukherjee said the son recently underwent chemotherapy for leukemia and his health is declining in detention. The lawyer said after their arrest at a courtroom, the family spent 11 hours at an immigrant processing center and were each only given an apple, a small packet of cookies, a juice box and water

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.

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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.

Family fights for release from Texas immigration detention center

A mother and her two young kids are fighting for their release from a Texas immigration detention center.

https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2025/06/27/family-sues-us-detention-courthouse-arrests