A federal judge has blocked the U.S. government from deporting Guatemalan children who had crossed the border without their families. The drama played out overnight.
Attorneys with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project filed a lawsuit on behalf of 53 Guatemalan children in government custody in Arizona. The suit claims a plan by the Trump administration to repatriate the youngsters is a violation of their right to seek protection in the U.S.
The children were already loaded onto planes when the judge said they needed to be sent back to government-run facilities while the legal process unfolds.
The Florence Project said one of its clients is a 12-year-old asylum-seeker who has chronic kidney disease and needs dialysis to stay alive. They say two others, a 10-year-old boy and his 3-year-old sister, don't have family in Guatemala and don't want to return.
Statement from the Florence Project's Facebook page:
“This attempt by the Trump administration to send these Guatemalan children back to Guatemala against their wishes and without an appropriate court order is another escalation of the government’s egregious attacks on unaccompanied immigrant children,” said Roxana Avila-Cimpeanu, Florence Project Deputy Director. “We are acting on behalf of 53 children who have all expressed to our legal team that they do not want to return to Guatemala. To repatriate them against their wishes before they are able to speak with an Immigration Judge is blatantly illegal, in direct violation of their rights, and puts children in danger of harm, including trafficking.”
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