After near-deportation, attorneys seek protections for immigrant children in HHS care

Source: Nebraska Examiner

By: Ariana Figueroa - September 11, 2025 6:38 pm

WASHINGTON — Attorneys for a group of 10 Guatemalan children who were nearly deported late last month asked a federal judge during a hearing Wednesday to grant protections for all unaccompanied minors in the care of a Department of Health and Human Services agency handling refugee resettlement.

Efrén C. Olivares, the lead attorney of the National Immigration Law Center representing the unaccompanied Guatemalan children, told U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly that President Donald Trump’s administration has taken steps to remove children from other countries “under the guise of reunification” with their parents.

The administration’s actions did not comply with federal law or constitutional due process rights, Olivares said. The government also backtracked on its initial claim that the parents had requested their children’s removal.

The attorney asked Kelly to bar the removal of all children in the care of the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement who are not subject to final orders, removal or voluntary departure. The group should be certified as a class, he said.


The front entrance of the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 3, 2023. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)


Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/09/11/repub/after-near-deportation-attorneys-seek-protections-for-immigrant-children-in-hhs-care/