Federal judge issues emergency order to prevent deportation of Portland family

A federal judge in Seattle has issued an emergency order to prevent U.S. Customs and Border Protection from deporting a Portland family with four U.S.-born children who were detained for about

two weeks

at a Washington holding facility.

A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson on Tuesday said the family was no longer in the agency’s custody. The children were released to a guardian and the mother was transported to immigration detention in Tacoma.

The woman was initially charged with “alien smuggling,” but the charges have since been dropped, and she is now being processed for voluntary deportation at her request, according to Customs and Border Protection. The emergency order disputes that the woman agreed to be deported voluntarily.

Members of Oregon’s congressional delegation on Tuesday announced U.S. District Judge Tana Lin’s emergency temporary restraining order and issued a joint statement about the extended family with roots in Honduras that includes 9-year-old triplets, a 7-year-old, their mother, father and grandmother.

“Our constituents, includingfour U.S. citizen children, were detained without due process by their owngovernment,” U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter and


Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, all Democrats, said in the statement. “This case is as urgent as it is egregious. Thisemergency ruling is a legal lifeline to provide critical protection.”

The woman and her children had been detained at a Customs and Border Protection facility in Ferndale, Washington, and had not been granted access to legal representation as of Monday.

Last week, Dexter traveled to the Ferndale facility but was not allowed to speak with the family or help connect the family with an attorney. Dexter held a press conference following her visit.

Customs and Border Protection standards say people generally

should not be detained inholding facilities for longer than 72 hours

.

Also last week, an agency spokesperson said the family was arrested because the mother was “attempting to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S. on June 28.” Thewoman’s sister has denied that claim in published reports.

The family was arrested at the Peace Arch Historical State Park in Blaine, Washington. The southern half of the park is in the U.S. owned by Washington State Parks, and the northern half is part of Canada, owned by British Columbia Parks.

Americans and Canadians historically have been able to commingle anywhere in the park, but Customs and Border Protection in May 2024 established some restrictions for Canadians, citing an increase in illegal border crossings, according to news articles and a video by federal officials. Canadians can now go only as far as the restrooms on the U.S. side.

The mother, her children and their grandmother had arrived at the park to meet with the woman’s sister, who is a Canadian resident and her Canadian-born children.

Jill Nedved, an attorney inSeattle, last week said the mother had not been charged with a crime.

The woman’s husband, who was arrested in front of the family’s home in Portland a few days later, was taken to an immigration detention center in Tacoma.

The grandmother also was taken to the Tacoma detention center, Nedved said last week.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Members of the Oregon congressional delegation said they were gratified with the emergency order and will be watching the case closely to make sure the family gets due process.

“This fight is every singleOregonian’s fight,” they said. “If we allow this — citizen children detention,neighbors disappeared, due process ignored — we surrender not just our countrybut our conscience. That is an outcome we refuse to accept.”

Dexter, Wyden, Merkley and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., on Sunday sent a letter to the U.S. Departmentof Homeland Security and


Customs and Border Protection imposing a deadline of 10 a.m. Monday to grant the family access to an attorney.

The woman, who has a pending U-Visa which allows for victims of crime to remain in the U.S. legally, has purportedly accepted to voluntarily return to Honduras, according to the judge’s emergency order, despite no indication of a prior deportation order.

The woman has expressed doubt as to whether the voluntary return form was signed, and whether it’s, in fact, voluntary, according to the emergency order.

It’s unclear why the family has been denied access to an attorney, according to the emergency order.

The government has until 9a.m. on Thursday to respond to the order. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday.

— Yesenia Amaro is on the investigations team. Reach her at 503-221-4395, or

yamaro@oregonian.com

.

About The Author