Another Small Victory – Court Stops Deportation of Guatemalan Children

It is a ruling of great significance, even if it applies only for two weeks for now. Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., has temporarily stopped the Trump administration from deporting a group of children to Guatemala. The decision came after the National Immigration Law Center filed an emergency motion to halt the removals. The attorneys argued that the government is violating the children’s constitutional right to due process and ignoring special protections for minors who crossed the border unaccompanied. The affected children are between ten and sixteen years old. According to the government’s plan, they were to be placed on U.S. military planes in the coming days and flown to their country of origin. Now they cannot be deported for at least 14 days. Judge Sooknanan scheduled an emergency hearing for Sunday to examine whether the planned deportations are lawful at all. The ruling could at least temporarily slow the administration’s efforts to send hundreds more unaccompanied minors back to Guatemala. It is already the second legal defeat for President Trump within a few days: just on Friday, another court stopped the practice of fast-track deportations far from the border – a central element of the White House’s migration policy.

The lawsuit was filed after caretakers in the shelters where the children are housed were instructed by email to prepare certain minors for transport. The children’s attorneys also received similar notifications. In their 25-page complaint, the lawyers argue that the children have ongoing proceedings before immigration courts across the United States and that their deportation would therefore violate law and Constitution. The government’s actions, they write, are “illegal and irresponsible.”

Some of the children, identified in the complaint only by their initials, had explicitly told the responsible judges that they were afraid of returning to Guatemala. On-the-ground research confirmed these fears: many of the children come from regions where gang crime, extortion and deadly violence are part of daily life. Some reported that they had already been threatened by gangs because they refused to serve as couriers or recruits. Others described domestic violence, abuse or neglect that forced them to flee. For many, returning means not just poverty but an immediate danger to life and limb. All of the research was also submitted to the court. Since the beginning of Trump’s second term, the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border has dropped sharply, but for the government they remain a particular challenge. Under U.S. law they enjoy special protections: the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act guarantees them the right to judicial review of their cases and other safeguards.

Guatemala itself supports the planned repatriation. Foreign Minister Carlos Ramíro Martínez stated on Friday that his country is coordinating closely with the U.S. and expects to receive more than 600 minors according to a plan presented by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem during her recent visit to Guatemala. Martínez said he hoped the repatriations would take place “gradually and in an orderly fashion.” Most of the affected children are currently living in government facilities until they are placed with relatives or other guardians. For them and their lawyers, the decision from Washington is more than just a gain of time: it is a small victory in a bitter fight for rights and protection in a political climate shaped by toughness and deterrence. Whether it can become a greater victory will be decided in the coming days.

To be continued .....

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