A federal judge has temporarily halted the planned U.S. deportation of Guatemalan children amid President Trump’s intense crackdown on immigration.
In a court filing Sunday, lawyers for the children said they were “ten (10) unaccompanied minors from Guatemala between the ages of 10 and 17 whom Defendants are seeking to remove from the United States in clear violation of the unambiguous protections that Congress has provided them as vulnerable children.”
The lawyers requested that the court “grant a temporary restraining order to preserve the status quo pending further proceedings.”
A later order from U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan reads that “given the exigent circumstances” the court “has determined that an immediate Order is warranted to maintain the status quo until a hearing can be set.”
“As the Plaintiffs have satisfied the four factors governing the issuance of preliminary relief, the Court accordingly ORDERS that: 1) The Plaintiffs’ 2 Motion for TRO is GRANTED; 2) The Defendants shall not remove any of the individual Plaintiffs from the United States for 14 days absent further Order of the Court; and 3) The parties shall appear for a hearing on August 31, 2025, at 3:00 p.m,” the order continues.
The order follows a letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) detailing plans by the administration to remove nearly 700 Guatemalan children who had come to the U.S. without their parents, The Associated Press reported Friday.
“This move threatens to separate children from their families, lawyers, and support systems, to thrust them back into the very conditions they are seeking refuge from, and to disappear vulnerable children beyond the reach of American law and oversight,” Wyden wrote in the letter to Angie Salazar, acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a component of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The order is the latest challenge to the Trump administration’s immigration goals.
Earlier this month, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the U.S. had 1.6 million fewer immigrants without legal status since the beginning of Trump’s second term.
“This is massive. This means safer streets, taxpayer savings, pressure off of schools and hospital services and better job opportunities for Americans,” Noem said in a previous social media post.
The Hill has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
