In a dramatic turn of events over the Labor Day weekend, a U.S. federal judge issued an emergency order halting the Trump administration’s plan to deport hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan migrant children, some of whom had already been loaded onto planes awaiting departure. The order, delivered in the early hours of August 31, 2025, came after a flurry of legal action and mounting concerns about the welfare and rights of the children at the heart of the controversy.
According to Reuters, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), a prominent immigrant advocacy group, filed an emergency motion just after 1 a.m. ET on Sunday to block the removal of 10 Guatemalan children, aged 10 to 17. The move was prompted by reports that the Trump administration had begun implementing a new agreement with Guatemala, aiming to deport unaccompanied minors without following the usual legal safeguards. The NILC’s swift action triggered a rare holiday weekend hearing before U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, who was awakened at 2:35 a.m. to address the emergency.
Judge Sooknanan issued a temporary restraining order, initially protecting the 10 named children for 14 days, but soon expanded her order to encompass all Guatemalan unaccompanied minors in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This potentially safeguarded hundreds—possibly up to 700—children nationwide, as reported by Democracy Now! and CBS News. Sooknanan’s decision came just in time: some children had already been transported to airports in Harlingen and El Paso, Texas, and were sitting on planes ready for takeoff. Following the judge’s order, government officials confirmed that the children were removed from the planes and returned to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).
The Trump administration defended its actions, claiming that it was acting at the request of both the Guatemalan government and the families of the children. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote on X, “The minors have all self-reported that their parents are back home in Guatemala. But a Democrat judge is refusing to let them reunify with their parents.” The administration’s stance was echoed by Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo, who stated in July that his government was ready to receive unaccompanied children and reiterated after the court ruling that Guatemala was prepared to welcome back any children who wished to return.
Yet, attorneys for the children—and many of the children themselves—disputed this narrative. In court filings, several of the young plaintiffs expressed deep fear about returning to Guatemala. One 10-year-old girl, whose mother had died and who had suffered abuse and neglect, said, “I do not have any family in Guatemala that can take good care of me.” A 16-year-old plaintiff stated, “If I am sent back, I believe I will be in danger,” citing threats against her life in her home country. According to the complaint, many of the children faced the risk of abuse, neglect, persecution, or even torture if returned.
Efrén Olivares, vice president of litigation at the National Immigration Law Center and an attorney representing the Guatemalan children, told Democracy Now!, “There are protections for unaccompanied minors that provide how a child can be released from custody, to whom, and the process if they want to go back to their country. If this were a benign repatriation to send children back to their parents, it wouldn’t be happening at midnight on Sunday of Labor Day weekend.” Olivares emphasized that the Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act of 2008, which passed with broad bipartisan support, sets out clear procedures to protect unaccompanied minors from exploitation and harm. Under this law, a child can only be returned after an immigration judge approves the request and a child advocate determines that the return is in the child’s best interest.
Legal advocates argued that the administration’s rushed attempt to deport the children—late at night, over a holiday weekend, and without proper notice—was a “clear violation of the unambiguous protections that Congress has provided them as vulnerable children.” The National Immigration Law Center and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights warned that bypassing established legal processes could result in grave harm to the children, many of whom are currently living in shelters or foster homes across the United States, including in Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and New York.
During the emergency hearing, Judge Sooknanan pressed the Department of Justice for assurances that no children had been deported before the order was issued. Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign confirmed that, while some children had been loaded onto planes, none had been removed from the country and all were being returned to HHS shelters. “We’re here to try to figure out as quickly as we can what is happening,” Sooknanan remarked, expressing surprise at the government’s attempt to remove minors “in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday weekend.”
Behind the scenes, the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement had signaled the new deportation effort days earlier. Melissa Johnston, director of the unaccompanied children program, sent staff an email prohibiting the release of Guatemalan children in federal custody except to parents or legal guardians within the United States. This internal communication, reviewed by Reuters, indicated that preparations for mass deportations were well underway before the legal challenge emerged.
Most of the children involved have pending immigration cases. Some are seeking asylum, while others may qualify for special immigrant juvenile visas—a status granted when reunification with one or both parents is not possible due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment. Olivares explained, “The vast majority of them have pending immigration cases. They have open immigration cases. An immigration judge has not determined their claims. Some are eligible for asylum. Some are eligible for what’s called a special immigrant juvenile visa.”
The emergency block on deportations has now bought advocates and the courts 14 days to review the children’s cases and ensure that any future removals comply with the law. For now, all children who were on the planes remain in ORR custody, scattered across shelters nationwide. The episode has reignited debate over the treatment of migrant children at the U.S. border and the legal and ethical responsibilities of the government toward some of the most vulnerable people seeking refuge in the country.
As the legal process unfolds, the children’s fate remains uncertain—but, for now, the rule of law and the protections enshrined for unaccompanied minors have prevailed, at least temporarily, over the Trump administration’s efforts to expedite their removal.
