The administration of Donald Trump is pushing to speed up deportation proceedings involving migrant children in government custody, a move that has sparked concern among legal advocates and child welfare groups.
According to officials and lawyers representing the minors, immigration court dates are now being brought forward by weeks or even months, making it harder for attorneys to secure legal protections for the children.
In some cases, children as young as four have been required to attend multiple court hearings within a short period, sometimes without legal representation.
Advocates say the accelerated process is placing emotional strain on the children, many of whom are still trying to understand the legal system.
Emily Norman, regional director for the East Coast at Kids in Need of Defense, said the experience is overwhelming for many.
Children are frequently feeling “enormous pressure,” she said, noting that some have even wet their pants when appearing in court.
The policy is part of a broader effort to tighten immigration enforcement on minors who entered the United States alone or were returned to custody after their guardians were detained.
Legal experts warn that the shortened timelines could result in vulnerable children being deported before they can properly present their cases.
“They’re all some combination of confused, scared and frustrated,” said Scott Bassett, managing attorney of the Children’s Program at Amica Center for Immigrant Rights.
In some instances, hearings have been rescheduled with little notice. One five-year-old child was reportedly assigned a court date within weeks of arrival, while in Texas, about 300 children in shelters had their hearings moved forward abruptly.
A government spokesperson, Andrew Nixon of the Department of Health and Human Services, defended the approach, stating that authorities are working to resolve cases efficiently.
“Many of these children are at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and in some cases are brought across the border by cartels under dangerous and coercive conditions. Moving cases forward helps disrupt those networks and ensures children are returned to safe environments as quickly as possible,” he said.
He added that reducing time in custody also lowers costs and helps the system function effectively.
A White House official also said the administration “is working to disrupt cartel plots and humanely return trafficked children to their homes and families as expeditiously as possible.”
However, critics argue that the policy is effectively pushing children toward deportation without giving them enough time to seek legal relief.
“It’s driving toward getting these kids out of the country,” Bassett said. “They feel the walls are closing in because they are.”
Advocates also point out that many of these children have experienced trauma and require time to build trust with legal representatives before sharing details necessary for their cases.
“When you’re working with especially children who survive trauma, it takes time to build trust with them to get the information you need to get,” said Alexa Sendukas, a managing attorney at the Galveston-Houston Immigrant Representation Project.
Meanwhile, data shows that migrant children are spending an average of nearly seven months in government custody—significantly longer than in previous years.
As of March, more than 2,000 children were being held in facilities funded by the Department of Health and Human Services across 24 states.
The combination of prolonged detention, sudden court dates, and uncertainty is taking a toll, with some children reportedly choosing to leave the country voluntarily.
Legal practitioners say the current system makes it difficult to secure protections such as Special Immigrant Juvenile status, which requires multiple legal steps and can take months to complete.
“In order to stop the government from removing the kids, I need to have that SIJ piece of paper. And they’ve given me a deadline that’s made it extremely difficult for me to get that SIJ piece of paper,” said Steven Wright, a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Immigrant Justice Center.
The policy shift has intensified debate over how migrant children should be treated within the US immigration system, with growing calls for a balance between enforcement and humanitarian considerations.
