A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Wednesday to stop deporting migrant children without giving them the opportunity to seek humanitarian refuge in the U.S.
The case centered on lone migrant children who crossed the border into the U.S. and who were summarily deported back by Border Patrol agents.
They were expelled under a little-used Centers for Disease Control and Prevention health protocol called Title 42. The protocol was put in practice last spring ostensibly to curb the spread of COVD-19 but political motivations came to light.
Under the health rule, the Border Patrol quickly deported nearly 200,000 people, including about 9,000 children who arrived at the border alone.
Attorneys for the plaintiff in the case, a teenager from Guatemala deported from Texas, said it puts children in danger.
