newsletter 09/19/25
Federal Court Blocks Administration from Deporting Unaccompanied Guatemalan Children in U.S. Custody
Today, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly granted our motion for a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from deporting unaccompanied Guatemalan children back to Guatemala—under the guise of “reunification” with their parents that neither the children nor their parents requested—without complying with laws passed to protect such children from trafficking and other abuse. We couldn’t describe this case any better than the judge himself, in the introduction to his opinion granting the class-wide relief:
Judge Kelly agreed with us and our partners at the National Immigration Law Center and National Center for Youth Law that the government’s “reunification” plan likely violates the law and that the harm to the children, many of whom have expressed fear of violence and abuse if returned to their home country, is irreparable. And in granting relief for a class of Guatemalan children, the judge warned:
“Defendants should not construe this decision as an invitation to take similar action” with respect to similarly situated unaccompanied children from other countries, noting that “any such attempt to expel them is likely to be unlawful.”