The lawyers representing 10 Guatemalan children between the ages of 10 and 17 years in custody of the government desperately try to stop Trump administration’s plans to repatriate hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan minors as plans seem to be underway.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the administration to withdraw the minors and established an emergency hearing for 3 pm on Sunday, but the United States district judge Sparkle Sooknan moved the hearing at 12:30 pm after the court was notified that Guatemalan children were “in the process of being retired from the United States.”
In judicial archives, lawyers accuse the Trump administration of trying to repatriate more than 600 Guatemalan minors not accompanied in coordination with the Guatemalan government in violation of laws that prevent such movements without giving them the opportunity to challenge the removals.
Unaccompanied minors are migrants under 18 who have come to the country without a legal guardian and have no legal status. According to reports, children in demand are in custody of the refugee resettlement office.
In a statement, the National Immigration Law Center, which filed the lawsuit, said the Trump administration is denying Guatemalan children to be able to present their case before an immigration judge.
“It is a dark and dangerous moment for this country when our government chooses to attack the 10 -year -old orphans and denies their most basic legal right to present their case before an immigration judge,” said Efrén C. Olivares, vice president of litigation in the NILC. “The Constitution and federal laws provide solid protections to unaccompanied minors specifically due to the unique risks they face. We are determined to use all legal tools at our disposal to force the administration to respect the law and not send any child to danger.”
El Paso, Texas – January 30: eighty migrants from Guatemala are deported to their country with a military plane from the United States at Fort Bliss facilities in El Paso, Texas, on January 30, 2025. (Photo by Christian Torres/Anadolu through Getty Images)
Anadolu through Getty Images
In another judicial presentation, Nilc said that after he tried to inform the Government that he had presented a motion for a temporary restriction order, they learned that shelters in southern Texas had been “notified to prepare Guatemalan children in their custody.”
“After the information and belief, the ice agents and their contractors have begun to try to pick up the unaccompanied Guatemalan children of the shelters in southern Texas to transport them to the airport for their possible elimination of the United States as soon as the early hours of Sunday, August 31, 2025,” NILC said in the presentation.
The lawsuit was filed on Saturday after legal service providers received notices from the refugee resettlement office that the children of their program have been identified for their reunification. In the notice, the agency said that judicial procedures for children identified by the agency “can be dismissed.”
“Orr’s attention suppliers must take proactive measures to ensure that the UAC is prepared for discharge within 2 hours after the reception of this notification,” the notice said.
In one of the notices submitted in the judicial documents, Orr has informed certain lawyers of unaccompanied minors that the “Government of Guatemala has requested the return of certain alien children not accompanied in general custody” to meet “with appropriate family members.”
In the statement, NILC said that because most Guatemalan children in the custody of the United States are indigenous and many speak languages other than English or Spanish, are more vulnerable to “being deceived by officials who seek to deport them.”
One of the children represented in the case is a 10 -year -old indigenous girl who speaks a rare language.
“His mother has died and suffered abuse and negligence of other caregivers,” says the complaint.
