Parents coerced to leave kids behind should get another shot at asylum, immigration lawyers argue

More than 400 parents hastily separated from their kids and deported under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy have really only had two options: have their kids deported to join them in their home countries, or leave their kids in U.S. custody to fend for themselves.

But lawyers for the families are fighting hard for a third option: to bring deported parents back and start the asylum process again, especially since many didn’t get a fair shot to begin with.

Negotiations have been going on for nearly two weeks between lawyers for parents and their children who remain in U.S. custody, with special attention to the cases where advocates say the parents may have been coerced to leave or not given a “credible fear” interview, as required.

Read: NGOs are using flyers and radio to find Guatemalan parents deported without their kids

“We have not thus far argued that every parent has a right to return, and the truth is, a lot of parents won’t want to return,” said Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney on the reunification case for the American Civil Liberties Union. “We are most concerned about parents who were coerced into removal. We are trying to assess the circumstances of their removal if they have any interest in coming back.”

Immigrant advocacy groups documented dozens of cases in which parents say they were coerced into being deported without their kids while separated from them in detention centers. A complaint filed last week with the Department of Homeland Security — the agency that oversaw the separation process — said out of 76 separated mothers who signed a removal form, one-third were told that if they didn’t sign, they’d never see their kids again.

The logistics are no small part of the effort. NGOs and attorneys are working with the government to track down all of the deported parents, most of whom are from Guatemala, and explain their options to them. Gelernt said many parents are not interested in returning to the U.S., but some are. The lawyers want the government to grant humanitarian parole for parents interested in returning that would allow them to reunite with their kids after months apart and pursue asylum again from within the U.S.

If the government agrees to allow some deported parents back to the U.S., there will still be a lot of issues to decide, like who would pay for their return and whether they would be detained again. Those concerns are not yet part of the negotiations.

Gelernt said many parents were deported before they were given a credible fear interview — the first step in the asylum process, in which an immigration officer determines whether an immigrant’s fear of returning to their home country is real.

Of the 412 separated, deported parents identified earlier this month, the government and advocates have been able to reach 231, according to court filings. Ten of those parents have been reunified with their kids in their home countries so far.

Cover: In this Aug. 9, 2018, file photo, provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, mothers and their children stand in line at South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. (Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP, File)