Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ NEW: The Trump administration is rushing deportations of migrant children during the coronavirus pandemic, according to attorneys, court filings and congressional staff.

With @ProPublica. bit.ly/3g41vJC

2/ Since March, the Department of Homeland Security has tried to quickly deport at least 15 such children, according to their lawyers, and removed at least six, including a 10-year-old. bit.ly/3g41vJC

3/ Included in the deportations: A 16-year-old girl who fled Honduras with her mother after her testimony landed her father in prison for rape.

She now faces retaliation from her uncle, a convicted killer.

bit.ly/3g41vJC

4/ Another boy who was deported is locked down in a relative’s home in Honduras, and said he is afraid to go outside because of abuse related to his sexual orientation. bit.ly/3g41vJC

5/ Another teen was deported without his attorneys being notified and despite an immigration judge agreeing to reopen his case.

At least seven more children are fighting deportation with last-minute federal court filings. bit.ly/3g41vJC

6/ These deported children come on top of an additional 900 unaccompanied minors who under an emergency declaration were turned back at the U.S. border in March and April, according to federal statistics.

The U.S. has largely shuttered the border during the pandemic.

7/ A spokesperson for ICE said if children already had been ordered removed under their family’s case in the Migrant Protection Protocols program, they are subject to deportation when they cross the border again — even if they do so alone and under different circumstances.

8/ But attorneys in lawsuits across the country argue the government is breaking the law by not granting children entering the U.S. alone a new bid at asylum. bit.ly/3g41vJC

9/9 Read more here. bit.ly/3g41vJC

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