Federal judge blocks deportation of unaccompanied migrant children to Guatemala

A federal judge on August 31 blocked the Trump administration from sending unaccompanied migrant children to Guatemala unless they have a deportation order, just hours after lawyers raised concerns about a hurried government effort to deport hundreds of minors.

U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle Sooknanan issued the order as planes carrying migrant children were ready to depart from Texas. Earlier, she had issued a temporary restraining order barring officials from sending 10 children, aged 10 to 17, to Guatemala and scheduled a hearing for next steps. She later moved the hearing up after learning some children were already in the process of being deported, Caliber.Az reports via CBS.

During the hearing, Sooknanan announced a broader temporary restraining order blocking any deportations of unaccompanied children from Guatemala in U.S. custody who did not have a deportation order. She instructed Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign to inform officials to halt their deportation plans.

Ensign confirmed that deportation planes were “on the ground” and that children on board would be deplaned and returned to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which cares for migrant minors. The Justice Department said 76 unaccompanied children were slated to be sent to Guatemala before the effort was blocked; 16 had been returned to HHS by the evening of August 31.

Sooknanan acknowledged her order was “extraordinary” but justified it, noting the government had planned to remove the children “in the wee hours” of a holiday weekend.

Lawyers representing the children said the Trump administration had sought to deport more than 600 minors to Guatemala without allowing them to request humanitarian protection, putting them at risk of abuse, neglect, or persecution. Ensign argued the effort was a repatriation to reunite children with relatives, a claim disputed by attorneys citing cases where parents had not requested repatriation.

Neha Desai of the National Center for Youth Law said the government was targeting children with “already filed claims for legal relief based on the abuse and persecution that they experienced in their home country.” She added, “This is both unlawful and profoundly inhumane.”

Most unaccompanied children crossing the U.S. southern border are teenagers from Central America. Many file for asylum or other immigration benefits once in the U.S. The Trump administration has also restricted sponsorship by relatives, offered voluntary return options for teens, and directed ICE and other agencies to conduct “welfare checks” on children released from HHS custody.

There are currently roughly 2,000 migrant children in HHS care.

By Sabina Mammadli