Aug. 31 (UPI) — A federal judge in Washington on Sunday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting a group of Guatemalan children in U.S. custody, after advocates warned that flights carrying the minors were already preparing to depart.
The case was filed on behalf of ten Guatemalan unaccompanied minors, ages 10 to 17, who remain in government shelters and foster care across the country, court records show.
The children are backed by the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, which asked the court to block what it called an unlawful plan to summarily deport hundreds of Guatemalan minors despite ongoing immigration proceedings and legal protections guaranteed under federal law.
Court filings say the administration identified more than 600 children for removal under a pilot program negotiated with Guatemala. The Young Center alleged that officials had started transferring children out of the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s custody and into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody to board deportation flights within hours of the complaint being filed.
The lawsuit names senior officials across multiple agencies, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Pamela Bondi, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Young Center argued that the mass removals violate the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, which requires unaccompanied minors from non-contiguous countries like Guatemala to receive full immigration court hearings, access to counsel, and safe repatriation procedures before any removal.
Several of the children detailed fears of returning to Guatemala in sworn declarations, citing abuse, neglect, gang violence, and persecution. One 16-year-old girl with a 10-month-old daughter in custody described suffering abuse by her father and the father of her child. Another said she was awaiting an asylum interview and wanted to continue pursuing her case in U.S. immigration court.
Just after 4 a.m. Sunday, U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan issued an emergency order granting the children’s motion for a temporary restraining order. She found that the “exigent circumstances” described in the lawsuit warranted immediate action to “maintain the status quo” and barred the government from removing the named plaintiffs for two weeks.
Sooknanan, a Biden appointee, initially scheduled an emergency hearing for around 3 p.m. Sunday but moved it up to 12:30 p.m. after learning removals were already underway, records show.
At the midday hearing, she extended the restraining order’s protection to cover all Guatemalan unaccompanied minors in Office of Refugee Resettlement custody as of the time the complaint was filed, so long as they do not already have a final order of removal. She said the relief was necessary to prevent “irreparable harm.”During the hearing, she heard arguments on whether the case should be certified as a class action. A decision on class certification is still pending.
“I have the government attempting to remove minor children from the country in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday weekend, which is surprising, but here we are,” Sooknanan said at hearing as reported by Politico.
During the hearing, Sooknanan ordered the government to halt any efforts to transfer, repatriate or otherwise remove the children covered by the suit until at least mid-September, unless the court issues further instructions.
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