US claims regarding child deportations called into question by Guatemalan document
In a dramatic turn of events, the Trump administration attempted to deport a group of unaccompanied Guatemalan migrant children over the weekend. The minors, aged between 14 and 17, were being held at more than a dozen children's shelters, mostly in south Texas.
The early hours of Sunday morning saw a frenzied, middle-of-the-night effort to deport these children. A 17-year-old held at a shelter in Los Fresnos was woken up around 2 a.m., while a 16-year-old at a shelter in San Antonio was brought to the lobby of the shelter to be taken to the airport around 11 p.m. on Saturday night.
The minors described the experience as terrifying and panicked. One of them called their mother to tell her of the impending deportation, causing their mother to cry.
The case has been transferred to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly. Court filings on Wednesday show many families did not want their children sent back to Guatemala, contradicting statements made by top White House official Stephen Miller, who stated that the children were being reunited with their parents.
According to a Guatemalan government report, 59 families of the 115 contacted expressed anger about the possibility of their children being returned to Guatemala. Some families described the potential deportation as intimidation.
The Guatemalan government, in August, assured the Trump administration that any unaccompanied children sent back would be processed in a safe and orderly manner for possible reunification. However, the organization in Guatemala that provided the contact information for these families is not specified in the provided search results.
The Washington-based federal judge blocked the deportations until September 14. Plaintiffs are seeking a longer-term halt to the deportations. The report offers the most comprehensive insight so far into the resistance of many family members to the children being deported.
The Trump administration has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown since taking office, including a campaign to detain and deport unaccompanied children. Despite this, some of the minors and their parents have expressed opposition to the attempt to deport them.
The Guatemalan government did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. provided Guatemala with a list of 609 children for potential deportation, which was a broader list than initially planned. The future of these children remains uncertain as they await further court rulings.
