FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2025
CONTACT
Email: [email protected]
Juan Gastelum, 213-375-3149
Will Dempster, 908-413-0153
NILC Statement on Federal Court Order Blocking the Trump Administration’s Attempt to Unlawfully Remove Guatemalan Children
WASHINGTON — Efrén C. Olivares, Vice President of Litigation and Legal Strategy at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), issued the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued an emergency Temporary Restraining Order stopping the Trump administration from unlawfully sending hundreds of unaccompanied Guatemalan children back to their home country:
“In the dead of night on a holiday weekend, the Trump administration ripped vulnerable, frightened children from their beds and attempted to return them to danger in Guatemala. We are heartened the Court prevented this injustice from occurring before hundreds of children suffered irreparable harm. We are determined to continue fighting to protect the interest of our plaintiffs and all class members until the effort is enjoined permanently.”
The National Immigration Law Center filed a lawsuit early this morning to stop the Trump administration’s unlawful plan to deport approximately 600 children, in violation of federal law and the Constitution. The district court has issued an emergency Temporary Restraining Order preventing the government from removing any Guatemalan unaccompanied minor in U.S. custody for 14 days.
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