Judge blocks Trump administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children [View all]

Last edited Thu Sep 18, 2025, 12:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: AP

Updated 11:35 AM EDT, September 18, 2025


WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children who came to the U.S. alone back to their home country, the latest step in a court struggle over one of the most sensitive issues in Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly comes after the Republican administration’s Labor Day weekend attempt to remove Guatemalan migrant children who were living in government shelters and foster care.

Trump administration officials said they were seeking to reunify children with parents who wanted them returned home. “But that explanation crumbled like a house of cards about a week later,” Kelly wrote. “There is no evidence before the Court that the parents of these children sought their return.”

There was already a temporary order in place preventing the removal of Guatemalan children. But that was set to expire Tuesday. Kelly, who was appointed by Trump, granted a preliminary injunction extends that temporary protection indefinitely, although the government can appeal. Kelly did rebuff advocates’ push to block the removal of children from additional countries, though he said any attempt to remove those children in a similar way would likely be unlawful.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportations-guatemalan-migrant-children-supreme-court-2bfc00faa704819f11ef472d809d6c22