A U.S. federal judge on Sunday halted the Trump administration from deporting a group of Guatemalan migrant children who had already been placed on planes, along with potentially hundreds more in government shelters, after lawyers filed an emergency appeal overnight.
The last-minute court order echoed earlier Trump-era immigration battles that played out in dramatic, late-night fashion, Reuters reported.
Just after 1 a.m. ET, the National Immigration Law Center filed an emergency motion with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to stop the removal of 10 unaccompanied children, ages 10 to 17.
District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, who was notified of the case around 2:35 a.m., issued a temporary restraining order halting deportations for 14 days. The ruling applied not only to the 10 children but to any Guatemalan unaccompanied minors currently in U.S. government custody — a group that could number in the hundreds.
By Sunday evening, a government lawyer confirmed that children placed on flights were removed and returned to the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
President Donald Trump, who launched a broad immigration crackdown after retaking the White House, struck an agreement with Guatemala to allow deportations of unaccompanied minors and had planned to begin removals this weekend, according to officials.
During Sunday’s emergency hearing, Sooknanan pressed the Department of Justice for assurances that children had not already been deported. DOJ attorney Drew Ensign said none had been removed.
Ensign said the children’s parents or guardians in Guatemala had requested their return through the Guatemalan government. Attorneys for the children disputed that claim.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller criticized the judge for blocking the deportations, writing on X: “The minors have all self-reported that their parents are back home in Guatemala. But a Democrat judge is refusing to let them reunify with their parents.”
Advocates argued in court filings that the deportations would violate protections for migrant children under federal law, warning they could face abuse, persecution, or even torture if returned. Plaintiffs included a 10-year-old indigenous girl whose mother had died and who had previously suffered abuse from caretakers.
The children had been held in shelters or foster homes in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New York.
“Dems are suddenly IN FAVOR OF child separation as soon as the Trump administration attempts to reunite children with their deported parents in Guatemala. What are we even talking about right now?” Republican CNN analyst Scott Jennings said.
“JUST IN: ALL 76 Guatemalan children have now been returned to a government-run SHELTER in the United States instead of being reunited with their families in Guatemala, the DOJ says, after DEI Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ordered it, per POLITICO. Stephen Miller fumed: ‘These smuggled migrant children were orphaned in America by the Biden Administration. The minors have all self-reported that their parents are back home in Guatemala. But a Democrat judge is refusing to let them reunify with their parents.’
‘The government of Guatemala has formally requested their return. And there are tens of thousands more smuggled minors orphaned in America by the Biden Administration that Democrats are refusing to allow back home with their families.’
“This is utter and complete MADNESS,” Eric Daughtery said.