Overview

• U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan broadened an emergency order to bar transfers of Guatemalan minors in federal custody who lack deportation orders and directed that children already on planes be returned to Office of Refugee Resettlement care.
• The Justice Department confirmed affected children were deplaned and sent back to shelters, with a government lawyer noting one flight may have briefly departed before returning.
• Administration officials describe the effort as voluntary repatriation to reunify children with relatives in Guatemala, while plaintiffs cite the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and say many youths have pending claims or fear harm if returned.
• The pilot identified more than 600 Guatemalan children for removal, with buses and charter aircraft staged in Harlingen and El Paso over the holiday weekend as legal challenges were filed.
• Guatemala’s government signaled it is prepared to receive the minors, and expedited court proceedings are now set to test the legality of the administration’s approach during the two-week pause.