32 Children Who Were Deported To Guatemala Last Year In Violation Of A Court Order Have Yet To Be Br
32 Children Who Were Deported To Guatemala Last Year In Violation Of A Court Order Have Yet To Be Brought Back
ICE deported the unaccompanied children in November, 10 minutes after a federal judge ordered that they remain in the US.
Hamed Aleaziz
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on July 28, 2021, at 5:50 p.m. ET
Immigrants from El Salvador board an MD-80 aircraft for a repatriation flight similar to that used to transport 32 children from the US to Guetamala.
Thirty-two unaccompanied immigrant children who were deported to Guatemala despite a judge's order have yet to be brought back to the US to apply for asylum, six months after the government admitted it was in the wrong. Now, immigration advocates are ramping up pressure on the Biden administration to speed up the process.
“It has been months since these children were expelled in violation of a court order and we need answers immediately,” said Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the ACLU who led the lawsuit challenging the Trump-era policy. “The children need to be given a chance to speak to us as counsel and the option to return to the US if they choose.”
Unaccompanied immigrant children line up to enter a tent at a temporary shelter in Homestead, Florida, in February 2019.
In a January filing admitting the violation of the court order, US officials said they would begin the process to return the 32 children to the US. The offer was the culmination of a monthslong saga over a Nov. 18 flight to Guatemala, which occurred shortly after US Judge Emmet Sullivan blocked the Trump administration from turning back unaccompanied children under the argument that it would protect against further spread of COVID-19.
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https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hamedaleaziz/immigrant-children-guatemala-no-return