Chicago immigration judge orders removal of 6 kids as green card applications remain pending
In many cases, the children have been in the United States for years.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Six children were ordered removed Wednesday by a federal immigration judge in Chicago.
The orders were handed down in a courtroom closed to cameras on the 15th floor of a downtown office building.
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One by one, the children appeared before Judge Shawn Abraham for hearings that lasted a few minutes. All of the children have been legally deemed abandoned by their parents by the government.
"These children fled to the United States seeking safety and protections from the horrors that no (child) should have to endure," attorney Laura Smith told reporters after the hearings.
She says the deportation of children is speeding up in Chicago.
Wednesday's removal orders will send the children to countries including Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
In many cases, the children have been in the United States for years.
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"These kids, some as young as 12 years old and younger, are now being deported from the United States," Sen. Dick Durbin said.
Durbin made a surprise appearance in court to witness the removal orders.
But the judge was not physically present and appeared virtually.
"He was somewhere in the cloud, appearing before us and ruling against these kids time after time after time," Durbin said.
Congress created a pathway for some children in the U.S. without legal authorization to obtain a green card. The program is backlogged, however, and judges are now ordering removals as applications are processed.
"All of this is brand new. Up until June of 2026, given a pending application for special immigrant status meant termination of removal proceedings," Smith said.
The removal orders come amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
New data analyzed by ABC News shows more U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in July than in nearly four years. In Chicago, there have been at least 1,200 apprehensions so far this year.
The president has repeatedly said violent criminals would be targeted first.
