FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2025
Contact:
media@nipnlg.org
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the National Immigration Project, Tulane Immigrant Rights Law Clinic, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed a federal lawsuit demanding the return of Elias*, a 16-year-old boy who was unlawfully deported to Guatemala by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this year without ever even being ordered removed. Elias also had Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), a legal protection designed by Congress to provide a pathway to a green card for immigrant youth who were abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent.
In the early hours of May 21, 2025, ICE agents deported Elias to Guatemala, without any removal order, after holding him in a hotel room in Alexandria, Louisiana for roughly 12 hours. They did not allow Elias contact with his attorney. ICE’s actions were a flagrant violation of federal law and Elias’ constitutional rights. The lawsuit calls on the court to intervene immediately and order the government to facilitate Elias’ return to the United States so that he can pursue the protections Congress intended for him.
“A court in Louisiana and the federal government both determined that it was not in Elias’ best interest to return to Guatemala—that’s how he got SIJS,” said Bridget Pranzatelli, Staff Attorney at the National Immigration Project. “After suffering abuse in Guatemala, and just when he was feeling settled and safe in Louisiana, ICE tore him from his life and deported him without any process and without even allowing him to speak with his lawyer. This was not only unthinkably cruel, but also entirely unlawful. Elias had never even been put in removal proceedings, much less ordered removed. He should be back home in Louisiana, studying, playing sports, and healing from all he suffered earlier in life, not stranded thousands of miles away from his community.”
“This case raises one of the most fundamental rights of our legal system—a person’s access to their lawyer,” said Mary Yanik, director of the Tulane Immigrant Rights Clinic. “The right to a lawyer is even more critical in a case involving a vulnerable child, and here, the government whisked our client hours away from his lawyer, held him overnight in a hotel and deported him in the early hours of the morning, so that he could not exercise his rights.”
“Federal judges across the country, including here in Louisiana, have made it clear that those with SIJS protection should not be detained, let alone removed,” said Nora Ahmed, legal director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “The depth of cruelty it takes to detain and deport a child, who the government specifically decided should stay here, is hard to imagine.”
Elias’ 18-year-old brother Brayan,* who also had SIJS, was detained and deported at the same time as Elias. They were deported on what should have been Brayan’s high school graduation day. Brayan had been ordered removed as a child without his knowledge, and he, too, was separated from his community and stripped of the ability to pursue a green card. His battle to return home is ongoing, as well. Both brothers deserve access to the protections SIJS is meant to provide. Alongside this lawsuit for Elias, the End SIJS Backlog Coalition has launched a national campaign to bring Elias and Brayan home under the hashtag #BringTheBrothersHome.
*Pseudonyms are used to protect the clients and their family.
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The National Immigration Project is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members who believe that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and flourish. We litigate, advocate, educate, and build bridges across movements to ensure that those who are most harmed by the immigration system are uplifted and supported. Learn more at nipnlg.org. Follow the National Immigration Project on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, and X at @NIPNLG.
The ACLU of Louisiana leads the charge to protect the civil rights and liberties of Louisianians, especially those most marginalized and historically harmed. True to our founding during the Civil Rights Movement, we are fearless in the face of intimidation and fight tirelessly to protect and empower Louisiana’s Black, Brown, Immigrant, and LGBTQ+ communities. We are part of a nationwide network of affiliates working in courts, legislatures, and communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.
The Tulane Immigrant Rights Law Clinic seeks to address the rapidly growing crisis in access to justice for detainees in Louisiana by building a pipeline of immigrant defenders and public-service minded government attorneys, developing pro bono capacity in the private bar, and changing the culture of institutional players in the region through strategic litigation, advocacy and reporting. Law students in the clinic represent immigrant youth, asylum seekers, and immigrant workers in courts and before immigration agencies under the supervision of clinic faculty. The clinic’s advocacy on behalf of its clients does not represent the institutional views of Tulane University.