A federal judge has issued an emergency order pausing a Trump administration plan to return more than 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan children to their home country, following a lawsuit filed by immigrant advocacy groups.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, appointed by President Biden, granted the order early Sunday morning, citing “exigent circumstances” that required immediate action to preserve the status quo until a full hearing could be held. Initially set for the afternoon, the hearing was moved to midday after reports that some children covered by the lawsuit were already in the process of being returned.
During the hearing, Judge Sooknanan expressed concern about the timing of the transfers. “I have the government attempting to remove minor children from the country in the early hours of a holiday weekend, which is surprising, but here we are,” she said.
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Attorneys for the Department of Justice argued the effort was not a deportation program but rather a coordinated repatriation effort in consultation with the Guatemalan government. DOJ lawyer Drew Ensign stated that the initiative involved children whose parents or guardians in Guatemala had requested their return, describing it as reunification rather than removal.
“It’s outrageous that the plaintiffs are trying to interfere with these reunifications,” Ensign said. He added that the Guatemalan government had confirmed parents’ wishes for the children to be sent back.
However, attorneys representing the children disputed that claim. Efren Olivares of the National Immigration Law Center argued that many of the minors did not meet the criteria described by the government and that the administration was circumventing established legal processes.
The children, who arrived in the United States without parents or guardians, are currently in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. Lawyers for the minors allege that the administration was preparing to return them without notice, hearings, or the opportunity to contest their cases—sometimes halting ongoing immigration proceedings.
Judge Sooknanan noted the conflicting accounts, saying what she heard from the children’s advocates “doesn’t quite line up with what I’m getting from the government.” She emphasized that her order must be clearly communicated to officials at HHS and the Department of Homeland Security to avoid ambiguity.
The case remains under judicial review, and the future of the administration’s repatriation plan will be determined at subsequent hearings.
