The detained Honduran family suing Trump: ‘Targeting children is unconscionable’

A month ago, two children ages six and nine showed up in a California court with their mother for what they thought would be a routine hearing in their asylum case. But, as has happened to many immigrants in recent weeks, the judge in charge of the case dismissed it after having been ordered to do so by the government.

When the Honduran family left the courtroom, several immigration agents were waiting outside to arrest them. The family has filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for those arrests, which took place on May 29. According to their lawyers, this lawsuit is the first “to challenge the arrests of minors under a new directive that encourages arrests in court.”

The lawsuit, to which EL PAÍS has had access, identifies the plaintiffs as N.M.Z., a six-year-old boy with leukemia, his sister D.M.Z., nine, and their mother, Mrs. Z. The three fled Honduras after receiving death threats and entered the U.S. in October 2024 with an appointment from CBP One, an application created by the Joe Biden administration to manage legal access to the country; in January, this system was eliminated by Donald Trump. The White House also revoked residence and work permits granted through the application and ordered its beneficiaries to leave the country.

After entering the U.S., the mother and her two children settled in Los Angeles, where they integrated into the community and began to study English, pending their court date in May. “N.M.Z. and D.M.Z. enrolled in a local public school, played with their friends, and enjoyed painting. N.M.Z. played soccer at a local park and the family attended church every Sunday,” the document explains.

During the family’s asylum case hearing, the mother tried to tell the judge that they wished to proceed with their asylum case. However, the Department of Homeland Security requested that their case be dismissed, and the judge immediately granted the request. The three were then arrested by plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and transferred to a detention center in Texas, where they remain.

The lawsuit includes a habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of their detention, and a motion for precautionary measures; it alleges that the detention was arbitrary, unlawful and part of a new policy that seeks to transform ordinary removal cases into expedited deportations, which are executed without a hearing and with little possibility of legal defense.

“The detention of this family is not only illegal, but also morally unacceptable,” the lawyers say in the text. N.M.Z. was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of three and missed a doctor’s appointment on June 5 because he was in custody. Currently, the child has bruises, bone pain, paleness and loss of appetite, symptoms that indicate a relapse. The suit notes that the Dilley City Detention Center, where they are being held, has a poor record of medical care for minors.

The lawsuit also lays out nine constitutional and legal claims, including the violation of due process, detaining a family that did not pose a flight risk without a prior hearing; and a violation of the Fourth Amendment, for conducting arrests without probable cause.

“This policy of arrest in the courts is completely new and contradicts established practices and laws. It is extraordinary and, therefore, raises new problems,” Daniel Hatoum, supervising attorney with the Texas Civil Right Project (TCRP), the legal organization handling the case, told EL PAÍS. “This family is particularly vulnerable, given the age of the children and the fact that one of them has been treated for leukemia. They need immediate help.”

According to Hatoum, the outcome of the lawsuit is still pending despite the fact that the lawyers have requested an expedited procedure. “The judge has ordered the government to respond to the lawsuit, and it must do so before next week,” he said.

He also said that the TCRP believes that this case will promote reforms in the immigration system. “We hope that it will set a precedent against these judicial arrests, especially of minors who have received permission to enter the country and who meet all the standards established by the federal government,” he said.

“We need real limits on the detention of civilian immigrants. Immigration detention is costly and harmful. It’s expensive because we all have to foot the bill, which, by some estimates, is nearly 10 times more expensive than letting families be free while they process their immigration cases,” he added. “We should be outraged by the squandering of our federal taxes on unnecessary cruelty, which also drives from society those who support their families, mothers and students, people who come to this country to contribute.”

Hatoum stressed that many of these detention centers are known for their terrible living conditions. “People who were held in facilities of this type died during the first Trump administration,” he said. “We hope that, by winning this case, we can limit the number of people detained by immigration.”

Attorney Elora Mukherjee, a professor at Columbia Law School who also represents the family, said that this case exemplifies “the cruelty of the immigration policies” of the current government. “This family complied with all the requirements of U.S. immigration laws and now suffers needlessly in detention, when they should be released,” she said. “Hundreds, if not thousands, of law-abiding aliens have been arrested in immigration courts in recent weeks, despite a federal court ruling that ICE’s new courthouse arrest policy is illegal and unconstitutional. Targeting children under this policy is simply unconscionable,” she said.

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