CHICAGO — Judicial intervention stopped the Trump administration’s brazen attempt today to disregard due process and remove hundreds of children to Guatemala. Saturday night and into the wee hours of Sunday morning, vulnerable immigrant children seeking protection were pulled from their beds at U.S. government-run shelters, loaded onto buses, transported to an airport, and placed on airplanes to be returned to Guatemala.
Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order halting the removals in response to a class action lawsuit filed by the National Immigration Law Center.
Despite the order, the Trump administration proceeded with efforts to remove the children. The judge hastily scheduled a hearing on Sunday morning, which proceeded while the children sat on planes parked on the tarmac in South Texas. It was only after the judge reiterated her order that the children could not be removed in contravention of the law that the government finally proceeded to deplane the children and return them to government care.
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) Executive Director Mary Meg McCarthy responded with the following statement:
“NIJC represents children threatened with unlawful removals and stands committed to advocate for their rights in a system increasingly manipulated against them. We are thankful for the federal court’s quick action today to prevent the involuntary deportation of these vulnerable children.
“While the administration attempted to coerce the Guatemalan government and state that families requested the returns, these representations did not withstand the weight of the law or the facts at hand. This latest judicial check on the administration helps ensure that these children are protected and affirms that they should be afforded a full legal process, to which they have a right under U.S. law, to determine whether they have a right to remain in the United States.
“The U.S. government must honor its obligations to protect children, and abandon any future efforts to deport children without process.”