Deportation as Leverage Emerges in Family Court

Deportation threats are increasingly surfacing in family court, as litigants seek advantage in custody and probate disputes and attorneys warn that faster immigration enforcement has raised the stakes.

"Honestly, immigration has always been an issue in family law, but it was less of an issue because people were having long delays," said Alphonse Provinziano, managing attorney of Provinziano & Associates. Now, "if you report somebody, they could very quickly be deported. That is a real threat."

Recent high-profile cases in Florida and Alabama underscore the issue. In Florida, Brazilian model Amanda Ungaro said she was deported after her ex-partner--an ally of President Donald Trump--pressured officials amid a custody dispute over their son.

In Alabama, an 85-year-old woman was deported to France after missing an immigration interview. She and her stepson, a law enforcement officer, were in a dispute over her late husband's estate, and she claimed he tricked her into missing the appointment.

Family lawyers say litigants have always tried to exploit any advantage. The difference now: those tactics may work faster--a lot faster. Provinziano said judges are often powerless to do much about it.

"Practically speaking, a judge has to think about that too because in California, they're tasked with figuring out a stable family placement for children," he said. "If someone's going to say, 'You know this person is facing deportation,' a judge is going to be concerned."

States have a say

"States generally haven't had a lot to say when it comes to immigration, but they do control family courts," said Seattle-based family law attorney Michelle T. Dellino.

Lawmakers in California and Washington anticipated the current situation. In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1141, expanding the definition of abuse to include "coercive control" -- behavior that interferes with a person's liberty.

The law explicitly includes threats tied to immigration status. Washington passed a similar measure in 2022. Both laws grew out of the #MeToo era; immigration didn't play a central role in the debates. But Dellino said courts are increasingly issuing protective orders based on immigration threats.

"The inclusion of the immigration piece proved to be really important," said the founder of Dellino Family Law Group. "I don't think it was anticipated that it would be the issue it is now."

She compared these laws to others that protect immigrant communities through indirect means, such as limits on law enforcement cooperation to rules governing placement of children when parents are deported. Several pending California bills would expand protections in areas such as schools, domestic violence and forced marriage.

But there is a paradox: while states can impose sanctions for threatening to report someone to immigration authorities, there is not much they can do if someone actually makes the call.

Hidden figures

Both attorneys say they are seeing--and hearing about--these threats more often. But people who can afford attorneys are less likely to be in the country illegally; the majority of family law litigants are unrepresented.

Dellino said the pattern is "very real and growing," especially in agricultural and lower income communities, but difficult to track.

"It's not necessarily something that everybody is talking about outside of the family law community," Dellino said. "Family court privacy means these situations rarely become public."

Connecting the dots can also be difficult. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement accepts tips anonymously by telephone and on its website.

"All of a sudden, the person is gone and then you're in a situation where courts are trying to make a decision without a parent there," Dellino said.

But Provinziano added that a far more prosaic dynamic is probably affecting far more people: many immigrants don't want to go to court, for family law or anything else. Immigration enforcement at California's courthouses have become enough of an issue that on April 24 the Judicial Council will debate a proposed rule requiring courts to regularly report civil arrests in their facilities.

"We've seen a chilling effect," Provinziano said. "A lot of clients who may have immigration issues right now will choose to appear remotely."