Overview

• Ms. Z and her children filed a lawsuit in late June, marking the first legal challenge by minors against ICE’s policy of detaining migrants outside immigration courthouses.
• After more than a month in a South Texas detention center, the family was released on July 2 pending the outcome of both their lawsuit and ongoing asylum proceedings.
• Lawyers for the family have secured arrangements to ensure the 6-year-old continues his multi-year leukemia chemotherapy and radiation regimen without further disruption.
• The suit contends a May 27 ICE memorandum removing limits on arrests at courthouses violated the family’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.
• Advocates say the revived courthouse-arrest policy, part of a broader deportation effort, undermines due process and endangers other families seeking asylum.