Los Angeles, USA – A U.S. federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration’s plan to immediately deport hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan minors, dealing a major setback to the White House’s immigration agenda.
The ruling by District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee in Washington, D.C., prevents the deportation of 327 Guatemalan children currently in U.S. custody who are eligible for reunification with relatives.
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The case came to a head on August 31, when U.S. immigration authorities attempted to deport 76 minors on a flight to Guatemala. The deportation was halted after a temporary restraining order, which Judge Kelly has now extended with a preliminary injunction.
Kelly sharply criticized the government’s actions, writing that officials acted in “bad faith” and rejected the administration’s argument that deportations were necessary to reunite children with their parents. “There is no evidence before the Court that the parents of these children sought their return,” Kelly noted, adding that the government’s justification “crumbled like a house of cards.”
Lawyers representing the children, aged 10 to 16, argued that the administration violated due process by ignoring their pending immigration cases and failing to respect legal protections for unaccompanied minors. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, such children are entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge prior to removal.
According to government data, more than 2,000 unaccompanied minors were in U.S. custody in August, though the figures do not specify nationalities.
The Trump administration defended its plan as an effort to reunify children with families in Guatemala. But Kelly’s decision underscores judicial resistance to White House attempts to accelerate deportations, adding to a string of legal defeats for the president on immigration policy.
Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which oversees the care of unaccompanied minors, provided immediate comment. The White House is expected to appeal.
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