U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, serving as the emergency judge over the Labor Day weekend, issued an emergency order early Sunday that halted the Trump administration’s apparent plan to deport more than 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan children.
The order came just hours after immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the unannounced removals.
Sooknanan rescheduled a hearing from 3 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. after learning that some children were already being prepared for removal. In her ruling, Sooknanan ordered the government to immediately cease all efforts to transfer or repatriate any child covered by the lawsuit, which was filed by the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). The putative class includes all Guatemalan minors in federal custody as of August 31 who do not have final removal orders.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment via email on Sunday.
Why It Matters
As of August 2025, there are just under 2,000 children in Health and Human Services (HHS) custody, with a majority originating from Central American countries like Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
The Trump administration has carried out more so-called welfare checks of immigrant children across the U.S. and has ramped up enforcement actions such as placing children in expedited removal proceedings. Immigrant advocates have raised concerns about these practices. Unaccompanied children are considered a protected and vulnerable group.
The case raises urgent questions about the treatment of vulnerable migrant children and the erosion of legal safeguards under federal immigration law. At stake are protections enshrined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which mandates due process and prohibits expedited removal of unaccompanied minors from non-contiguous countries. The lawsuit also highlights concerns about discrimination, lack of access to counsel, and potential violations of the Fifth Amendment.
What To Know
Sooknanan’s order came after attorneys alerted the court that Guatemalan children were already being moved toward removal. The judge instructed the government to stop all transfers and confirmed that the class includes minors in the custody of the ORR who lack executable removal orders.
During the hearing, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign acknowledged that one flight may have departed but returned. He added all children covered by the lawsuit remain in U.S. custody and no further flights will leave under the court’s directive. Attorneys for the children said some remain on planes in Harlingen and El Paso, Texas, ABC News reported.
The NILC lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of coordinating with the Guatemalan government to repatriate more than 600 minors without legal hearings. The complaint argues that this violates federal statutes protecting unaccompanied children and denies them the opportunity to seek asylum or contest removal.
According to NILC attorneys, the Trump administration intended to deport the children within hours under a “pilot program” coordinated with the Guatemalan government. The plan reportedly included transferring minors from ORR custody to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for removal, bypassing ongoing immigration proceedings.
Federal law exempts unaccompanied children from expedited removal and guarantees them access to immigration court hearings. The lawsuit argues that the administration’s actions violate TVPRA, the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and constitutional due process rights.
The complaint, filed just after 1 a.m. Sunday, names 10 plaintiffs identified only by initials, ranging in age from 10 to 17. Two are listed simply as “minors.” The emergency relief motion followed within 30 minutes.
Though the case has not yet been formally assigned, Sooknanan is presiding due to her emergency designation.
A similar lawsuit filed Saturday in federal court in Chicago led to a temporary halt of deportations for four Guatemalan minors. U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to review that case. Former President Joe Biden appointed both judges.
NILC attorneys argue that the children face grave risks if returned to Guatemala, including persecution and trauma. They accuse the administration of violating its legal obligations and undermining the rights of asylum-seeking minors.
What People Are Saying
Efrén C. Olivares, vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the NILC, said: “It is a dark and dangerous moment for this country when our government chooses to target orphaned 10-year-olds and denies them their most basic legal right to present their case before an immigration judge. The Constitution and federal laws provide robust protections to unaccompanied minors specifically because of the unique risks they face. We are determined to use every legal tool at our disposal to force the administration to respect the law and not send any child to danger.”
The NILC legal filing said: “Defendants’ actions are thus exposing children to multiple harms in returning them to a country where they fear persecution and by flouting their legal obligations to care for them in the United States.”
Gladis Molina Alt, executive director for the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, previously told Newsweek: “Every child in U.S. custody has the right to due process, to seek protection under current asylum law, legal counsel, and an individualized decision that hears their claim for protection first. To strip away those protections is to put children’s lives on the line. We will not stand by while the government treats children as political pawns instead of human beings with rights, voices, and futures.”
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, previously told Newsweek: “Reports that the administration is planning to return hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan children raise serious concerns about whether due process and child welfare standards are being upheld.
“Protections for these children were enacted with bipartisan support to ensure that vulnerable children are screened for trafficking, abuse, or fear of persecution before any decision is made about their future. Any new policy must be consistent with these longstanding legal protections and grounded in child welfare best practices.”
What Happens Next?
The court will continue reviewing the case to determine whether the emergency order should be extended or converted into a preliminary injunction. If the administration is found to have violated federal law, broader restrictions on deportation procedures for unaccompanied minors may follow.
Additional hearings and filings are expected in the coming days.
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