FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS DEPORTATION OF HUNDREDS OF GUATEMALAN CHILDREN FROM THE U. S. (PHOTO).

 Federal judge halts deportation of hundreds of Guatemalan children

A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from deporting hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan children, citing a lack of evidence that their parents requested their return. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, issued a preliminary injunction preventing the removal of minors who have neither received a final deportation order nor obtained Attorney General permission to voluntarily leave the U.S., at least until the case is resolved.

Kelly noted that the government’s claim that parents sought the children’s return “crumbled like a house of cards,” pointing to the Guatemalan attorney general’s report that officials could not locate parents for most of the children identified for deportation. Of the few families contacted, none had formally requested their children be returned. Earlier, on Aug. 31, dozens of children aged 10 to 17 were transported from federal foster homes to a Texas airport for deportation. The Justice Department maintained the move was meant to reunite the children with families in Guatemala, but the children reported severe fear, including vomiting and requests to speak with clinicians.

An emergency restraining order issued by Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, a Biden appointee, initially halted the deportations for ten named plaintiffs and was later expanded to cover a broader group of unaccompanied Guatemalan minors. Kelly ruled that the children were likely to succeed in showing the expedited removals violated the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which mandates standard removal proceedings and access to counsel for unaccompanied minors. He rejected the administration’s argument that the law did not apply when children were being “reunified” with families, writing that reunification does not negate the fact that removal from the U.S. still occurred.

The injunction covers more than 600 Guatemalan minors. According to the Guatemalan attorney general, of 609 children identified by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, only 204 families could be contacted, and just 115 were confirmed. Several parents refused to participate in evaluations or expressed that they did not want their children returned, including one family whose daughter had received death threats and could not safely live in Guatemala. Only 57 parents indicated they would accept their children, but none had requested their return.