Trump administration blames Biden-appointed judge for blocking family reunifications in Guatemala
Teh article reports on a recent legal challenge that blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to deport dozens of unaccompanied Guatemalan minors back to Guatemala. A federal judge appointed by President Biden issued a temporary order preventing the children’s removal after lawyers for some of the minors filed an emergency lawsuit. The Trump administration maintained that the deportations were lawful and coordinated with the Guatemalan government and the children’s guardians to reunite them with family members. However, opposing lawyers argued the children were not given proper notice or the chance to contest their removal. The judge highlighted conflicting accounts about whether the actions were genuine family reunifications or harmful deportations. This case is part of a broader pattern where courts have frequently blocked aspects of the administration’s aggressive immigration and deportation efforts, reflecting ongoing tensions and legal battles over immigration policy in the United States.
Trump administration blames Biden-appointed judge for blocking family reunifications in Guatemala
The Trump administration’s deportation agenda hit another court-induced snag over Labor Day weekend when a federal judge blocked it from returning dozens of Guatemalan minors to their native country. The Trump administration says the children were on their way to be reunited with their parents, setting up another high-profile battle over immigration.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, on Sunday blocked the removal of the unaccompanied children back to their native Guatemala for at least 14 days after lawyers representing 10 of the children filed an emergency lawsuit. The administration complied with the order, deplaning dozens of the affected unaccompanied children who were preparing to take off and placing them back in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Refugee Resettlement.
The Justice Department in federal court on Sunday claimed the unaccompanied children were being returned to Guatemala legally at the request of both the Guatemalan government and the guardians of the children.
“The government of Guatemala has requested the return of these children and all of these children have their parents or guardians in Guatemala who are requesting their return, and United States government is trying to facilitate the return of these children to their parents or guardians from whom they have been separated,” DOJ lawyer Drew Ensign said, per ABC News.
Ensign also characterized the children’s removal from the U.S. as “repatriations” during the hearing, per Politico, adding that the actions were “not removals under the statute” and calling it “outrageous that the plaintiffs are trying to interfere with these reunifications.”
Unaccompanied alien children are those who have “no lawful immigration status in the United States,” are under the age of 18, and have either no legal guardian in the U.S. or no guardian able to “provide care and physical custody” in the U.S., per the ORR. Many of these children arrive at the U.S. border without any guardian and remain in ORR custody.
The plan to return the unaccompanied children to Guatemala, first reported on by CNN last week, is in coordination with the Guatemalan government and could affect more than 600 children in ORR’s custody. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to the interim director of ORR on Friday expressing his concern over the program and calling for the termination of “efforts to repatriate children from ORR custody.”
The Guatemalan government issued a statement Sunday about the program, saying it worked in coordination with the U.S. government to facilitate the return of unaccompanied children to their native Guatemala and reunite them with their families.
The lawyers representing 10 of the unaccompanied children claim the administration failed to give the children notice or the ability to challenge their removal from the U.S. Sooknanan said during the court hearing Sunday that both sides were offering “conflicting narratives” on what was occurring.
“I have conflicting narratives from both sides here on whether what is happening here is an attempt to reunite these children with their parents or just return these children to Guatemala where they face harm,” Sooknanan said, per ABC News.
While Sooknanan paused the DOJ-described “repatriations” of the unaccompanied children, she had only presided over the case for the holiday weekend. On Tuesday, the case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump.
HOW TRUMP’S DEPORTATION AGENDA IS BEING STALLED IN COURTS
The legal battle over the removal of the unaccompanied Guatemalan children marks the latest legal fight in federal courts over deportations.
Federal judges have blocked various deportations since Trump returned to office and pursued his aggressive immigration agenda. The administration’s push has been met with various efforts by illegal immigrants and left-leaning organizations to stop or delay removals from the U.S.
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