A federal judge has blocked the US government from repatriating some Guatemalan minors in its custody, citing concerns the Trump administration may be violating their legal and constitutional protections.
The decision Thursday from Judge Timothy Kelly halts the removals while the court considers a lawsuit that argues that the children, who have received neither a final removal order nor permission from the attorney general to voluntarily depart from the United States, must be allowed full immigration proceedings under federal law.
Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, questioned the administration’s handling of the operation.
“Defendants’ conduct does not inspire confidence that they themselves are convinced that they have the authority to proceed as they would like,” Kelly wrote. “If their statutory authority is so ‘unambiguous,’ why exercise it in the middle of the night on a holiday weekend with nothing but a late-night (or early-morning) notice to the children’s caretakers and advocates?”
Kelly also added, “Defendants should not construe this decision as an invitation to take similar action with respect to these other unaccompanied alien children.”
The lawsuit, filed by the National Immigration Law Center, includes 10 Guatemalan children ages 10 to 17, most of whom are in ongoing immigration proceedings. Lawyers argued the children – including an indigenous 10-year-old who had been abused in Guatemala – would face grave risks if returned.
Declarations filed in the case described children “confused and scared” when they were pulled from their beds. At one shelter, “a young girl was so scared that she vomited.” One 17-year-old recalled being woken at 2 a.m. and said he “felt like [he] lost [his] breath.” Another child told the court she feared she would kill herself if forced to return.
CNN has reached out to the Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services for comment.
Kelly emphasized that Congress had created a specific process for handling unaccompanied minors and that the government’s late-night flights appeared to skirt those rules. “Plaintiffs also face irreparable harm absent an injunction. And the balance of equities supports relief now,” he wrote.
“Today’s court decision is a significant victory for the hundreds of children who are now safe from the Trump administration’s unlawful attempt to expel them from the United States,” said Efrén C. Olivares, vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center.
“This decision should send a clear message to the administration that they have no legal authority to circumvent law to expel unaccompanied children without due process,” Olivares added.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
