After research and trial and error, I discovered that I simply needed to remove Modifier.focusable() from the Box modifier.

Updated code... SettingsScreen.kt

@Composable
fun SettingsScreen(onBackClick: () -> Unit) {
    val focusRequester = remember { FocusRequester() }
    BackHandler {
        Log.e("TAG", "SettingsScreen: BackHandler Called Close")
        onBackClick()
    }
    Box(
        modifier = Modifier
            .fillMaxSize()
            .background(color = SettingsBG)
            .focusRequester(focusRequester = focusRequester)
    ) {
        Column {
            MPButton(text = "Text 1") {
                Log.e("TAG", "SettingsScreen: text 1 click")
            }
            MPButton(text = "Text 2") {
                Log.e("TAG", "SettingsScreen: text 2 click")
            }
        }
    }

    LaunchedEffect(Unit) {
        focusRequester.requestFocus()
    }
}

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