LAX Immigration Agents Asked Detainees to Sign Away Their Legal Residency Status, Attorneys Say

Attorneys for travelers detained at Los Angeles International Airport over the weekend say their clients were asked to sign forms giving up their legal residency status.

Several people with green cards traveling from countries targeted under President Donald Trump's immigration executive order were held for hours and questioned by Customs and Border Protection officers.

During those interviews, the agents put forms in front of the detainees and tried to persuade them to sign away their residency status, said Stacy Tolchin, a private attorney working with the ACLU in representing detainees.

"We believe immigration was trying to coerce them into abandoning their permanent residency status," Tolchin said.

In a federal court filing Saturday on behalf of Fatema Farmad and Marzieh Moosavizadeh Yazdi, the attorneys said the immigration agents' actions amounted to an attempt to "coerce individuals to sign a form to relinquish their lawful permanent resident status or otherwise withdraw their applications for admission."

Tolchin said attorneys concluded this after speaking to the detainees and their families about the documents those held up were asked to sign.

One form, I-407, allows those with green cards to voluntarily abandon their status as a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Tolchin said the form is used when a green card holder decides to return to their homeland and give up their U.S. residency.

Federal immigration law states that when a returning permanent resident is seeking admission, the government cannot bar them, she said.

The agents' action would appear to escalate the seriousness of legal violations that immigration attorneys say occurred over the weekend at LAX. In such cases, agents were not only asking questions that kept the detainees from entering the country but taking action that could revoke their residency.

KPCC is attempting to reach Customs and Border Protection  for a response. Immigration officials have not answered questions about the number of people detained at LAX and how many may still be held.