U.S. Judge Blocks Deportation Of 10 Migrant Children
A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the Donald Trump administration from deporting 10 unaccompanied migrant children to Guatemala after immigrant rights lawyers argued it would violate U.S. law.
The emergency ruling came hours after the National Immigration Law Centre, joined by the Young Centre for Immigrant Children’s Rights, filed a complaint on behalf of the children, aged 10 to 17.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan issued a 14-day restraining order and ordered an urgent hearing, noting that it appeared the children were already in the process of being removed.
“Defendants are imminently planning to illegally transfer Plaintiffs to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody to put them on flights to Guatemala, where they may face abuse, neglect, persecution, or even torture, against their best interests,” the legal complaint stated.
CNN had reported that the Trump administration had prepared to launch the deportations this weekend under a bilateral agreement with Guatemala, according to one current and two former U.S. officials.
Trump made immigration enforcement a centrepiece of his second term after returning to the White House in January.
His administration directed the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to suspend the release of Guatemalan children except to parents or legal guardians in the U.S., according to an internal email reviewed by Reuters.
Migrant children who cross the border alone are classified as unaccompanied minors and, under federal law, must be placed in government-run shelters until they can be reunified with family members or foster care.
Advocates say bypassing those protections would strip children of the safeguards Congress designed specifically for them.
According to Reuters, Melissa Johnston, director of ORR’s programme for unaccompanied children, circulated the directive last Thursday.
U.S. Judge Blocks Deportation Of 10 Migrant Children is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
