Judge blocks deportation of unaccompanied Guatemalan minors

A federal judge this week blocked the Trump administration from immediately deporting unaccompanied Guatemalan children from U.S. custody, issuing an injunction that extends an earlier temporary order and halts a recent effort to return minors to Guatemala. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly ordered that children in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement may not be removed while their cases remain active unless they have a final removal order or permission to voluntarily depart.

The ruling follows a late-night operation on Aug. 30 and the early morning of Aug. 31 when contractors working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed dozens of Guatemalan children from shelters and foster homes and transported some to airports in El Paso and Harlingen, Texas. Government filings have described multiple tallies of children identified for removal, at times listing 457 and later 327, and reporting that 76 minors boarded planes during the initial phase. Separate government materials filed in the case identified as many as 609 unaccompanied Guatemalan children aged 14 through 17 who were considered for return.

Children’s advocates quickly sued to stop the removals,...