Court Halts Deportation of Hundreds of Guatemalan Children in the U.S.
Washington, September 1 (Hibya) - A U.S. judge on Sunday issued an emergency order halting the Trump administration’s plan to deport about 700 unaccompanied Guatemalan children after attorneys for migrant rights advocates called the plan “illegal.”
Attorneys for 10 Guatemalan children aged 10 to 17 said in court filings late Saturday that there were reports planes bound for the Central American country were set to depart within hours.
However, a federal judge in Washington said the children could not be deported for at least 14 days, and after a hastily scheduled Sunday hearing, ordered that they be taken off planes and returned to Refugee Resettlement Office facilities until the legal process is completed.
Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan, appointed by Joe Biden, began Sunday afternoon’s hearing by ensuring that the Justice Department had received the expanded order and that government officials were aware of it. “I don’t want there to be any ambiguity,” she said, adding that her decision applied broadly to Guatemalan minors entering the U.S. without parents or guardians.
Meanwhile, government attorneys argued that the children were not being deported but reunited with parents or guardians at their request; the children’s attorneys, however, disputed this claim in at least some cases.
British News Agency
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