The Donald Trump administration is offering migrant children as young as five years old $3,000 to voluntarily leave the United States. Immigration lawyers and advocacy groups have warned that the payments could pressure minors into abandoning their immigration cases, Bloomberg Law reported.

The offers are being presented to children appearing in immigration court. In some cases, attorneys representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have raised the option. In others, immigration judges have explained it during proceedings. The programme expands an earlier initiative that offered $2,500 to unaccompanied migrant children aged 14 and above.

The incentive has now reportedly increased to $3,000 and extends to children under 14. Advocates say some minors may not fully understand the legal consequences of agreeing to leave the country.

Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Centre for Justice, said her organisation received reports over the past month from attorneys and court observers across the country about young children being offered the payment.

Some children reportedly lacked legal representation when the offer was raised.

“We’re seeing this as part of a larger pattern of really trying to coerce children, bully children, intensify pressure on children so that they abandon their cases,” Aber told Bloomberg Law.

Michael Lukens, executive director of the Amica Centre for Immigrant Rights in Washington, said his organisation and other legal aid groups had received emails from ICE attorneys offering children $3,000 to accept voluntary departure.

One such offer was reportedly sent to an 11-year-old client a week before the report. Lukens questioned whether children could fairly pursue their cases while facing financial incentives to leave the US.

Advocates are particularly concerned that accepting voluntary departure could affect a child's ability to seek asylum or other forms of humanitarian protection. The legal consequences depend on each case, making access to legal advice crucial.

The offers come as the administration seeks to speed up immigration proceedings involving unaccompanied children. Federal funding for the Acacia Centre for Justice and other legal aid organisations representing these minors lapsed in July, raising concerns about access to legal assistance.

More than 16,500 cases involving unaccompanied children remained pending in immigration court as of July, according to data from the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Bloomberg Law also reported that supervisors at the immigration court agency directed judges to limit continuances, or hearing postponements, to 21 days for children who entered the US without a parent or guardian. These delays can give children time to find lawyers or prepare asylum applications.

The $3,000 offer resembles an existing federal initiative through which Customs and Border Protection encourages eligible migrants to leave voluntarily using its CBP Home app. However, immigration lawyers told Bloomberg Law they had not previously heard of the incentive being extended to children under 14 during immigration court proceedings.