Immigrant parents who were separated from their children at the border told attorneys they were misinformed, coerced, or tricked into waiving their rights to be reunified with their kids.

In court documents filed in San Diego on Wednesday, a father from Guatemala said immigration officials told him he was definitely going to be deported and asked if he wanted to be deported with his daughter or by himself. They did not ask him if he wanted to be reunited with his daughter in the US.

Without an opportunity to review the document, he signed a form that officials told him was the only way his daughter could stay in the United States, according to a declaration signed by attorney Sofia Reive.

"He told me it is not safe for his daughter to return to Guatemala due to extreme and specific threats from a powerful and dangerous man who has demanded to 'buy' her," Reive said. "He signed the document because he felt pressured to do so and because he felt like he had no other choice. This entire interaction lasted approximately one minute."

The declarations from attorneys working with detained parents who were separated from their kids describe people who don't speak English being pressured into signing documents; being forced to make a decision in a room full of dozens of people with only a few minutes to decide whether to leave their kids in the US; or incorrectly believing they were signing a form that would reunite them with their children.

The testimonials were offered in support of a motion being considered by US District Judge Dana Sabraw on whether to stop the federal government from deporting parents until seven days after they have been reunited with their kids. The American Civil Liberties Union has argued that deporting parents and kids immediately after they are reunited doesn't give the family enough time to decide what is best for the child, such as continuing to fight their case in the US or returning to their home country with their parent.

In Wednesday's filing, ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said parents aren't being allowed to make informed decisions with deep consequences before seeing their children or having enough time to do so. As it is, some parents quickly signed away their chances to be reunified with their kids without legal advice, time to think, or translation, Gelernt said.

Some 85 parents purportedly signed a form waiving reunification, and 127 waived it orally, Gelernt said.

