Border patrol agent allegedly threatened to put an immigrant’s child up for adoption if she continued asylum claim — CORRECTED IMAGE

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article was accompanied by a photo of a Border Patrol Agent. The photo has been removed because the agent in the photo was not involved in the events described in the article. We apologize to the agent for the use of his photo in connection with the article.

A border patrol agent allegedly threatened to put an immigrant’s daughter up for adoption if she didn’t agree to stop seeking asylum, the ACLU told the Daily Beast on Tuesday.

Edgar Saldivar, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, told The Daily Beast that the 12-year-old girl and her mother, Maria, crossed the border illegally in June after fleeing domestic violence. Maria subsequently turned herself in to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for asylum.

According to Saldivar, that’s when an agent told her that she and her daughter could return to Guatemala — if she gave up her asylum claim. And if she didn’t, he told her, she’d be jailed for a year, her daughter would be put up for adoption, and they would never see each other again. In Texas, a child can only be put up for adoption if their parents consent or if a judge terminates their parental rights.

“We’ve heard of the history of CBP officers using lies and misinformation to pressure people into signing voluntary departures,” he said. “But in this specific context, where they’re threatening to take a child away and adopting them out to an American family, that was something I had not heard before.”

The CPB did not respond to a VICE News request for comment, and told the Daily Beast they couldn’t speak about this specific case, citing ongoing litigation.

Maria, who decided to continue her claim for asylum, was moved to a detention facility in South Texas. Her daughter was taken away, and she still doesn’t know where she is, Saldivar told the Daily Beast.

Even if Maria does get back with her daughter, she probably won’t be granted asylum: Her allegations come just weeks after the Trump administration announced it would no longer grant asylum to victims of domestic abuse. But according to the Beast, Maria’s is the first known case in which a parent has been threatened with having her child adopted.

“Generally, claims by aliens pertaining to domestic violence or gang violence perpetrated by non-governmental actors will not qualify for asylum,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote in his directive on June 11. “The mere fact that a country may have problems effectively policing certain crimes — such as domestic violence or gang violence — or that certain populations are more likely to be victims of crime, cannot itself establish an asylum claim.”

The Trump administration already faces overwhelming bipartisan backlash after separating thousands of children from their parents as a result of the zero tolerance policy of prosecuting those who cross the border illegally, even if they are seeking asylum. Last week, Trump reversed his policy of separating children from their parents, but more than 2,300 migrant children were separated from their families between April and June. The administration said about 500 of them have been reunited.

Cover image: Undocumented immigrant families turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents on July 21, 2014 in McAllen, Texas. Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.

A previous version of this article was accompanied by a photo of a Border Patrol Agent. The photo has been removed because the agent in the photo was not involved in the events described in the article. We apologize to the agent for the use of his photo in connection with the article.