WASHINGTON (AP) – Trump administration on Labor Day weekend I tried to eliminate a child in Guatemala Those who came to the US alone and lived in shelters or with foster families in the US.
Advocates representing immigrant children in court filed a nationwide lawsuit to stop the government from taking away children, intervening on Sunday to order federal judges to stay in the US for at least a moment.
The Trump administration accused supporters and judges of intervening in court and social media, claiming they were doing this to reunite the children with their families at the request of the Guatemalan government.
The accused supporters said the children they represent fear they will return home, and the government has not followed laws designed to protect immigrant children by operating late at night and bypassing immigration courts.
Let’s take a look at this situation:
National legal procedures
At least three lawsuits have been filed nationwide: Arizona, Washington, DC, and Illinois. Representatives of unaccompanied immigrant children are trying to stop the government from removing Guatemalan children who do not have final removal orders from the country. Those children live in a network of shelters supervised by the Refugee Resettlement Bureau, which falls under the Department of Health and Human Services.
In Illinois, the attorney representing four minor children identified solely by initials said that US immigration and customs enforcement agencies intended to take children from shelters that were kept under US government care on August 30 or September 1 were notified on August 29.
The judge prevented them from being taken out of the country, at least until Wednesday afternoon. The incident hearing is set for Wednesday morning.
In Arizona, the Florence Immigration & Refugee Rights Project, which provides legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children, filed a lawsuit on behalf of 53 children from Guatemala. The children, ages 3 and 17, lived in shelters in the Phoenix and Tucson area, caring about unaccompanied immigrant children. US District Judge Rosemary Marquez prevented the Trump administration from taking those children away for at least two weeks on Sunday. She said some children may have been in the process of being taken away at the time, and ordered the government to return to the US soon.
In Washington, DC, Judge Sparkle L. Souknanan ordered a 14-day temporary restraining order, preventing the government from eliminating Guatemalan children in the office of refugees’ resettlement custody and sending them back to Guatemala.
What does Guatemala say about this?
In July, the government was the head of the Guatemala immigration department. You are about to repatriate any minor of your 341 companions Someone was detained in a US facility.
At a press conference on Monday, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo shed more light on the issue.
Arevalo said the US Foreign Minister and the US Ambassador toured detention facilities for minors and adults in the US in March, and was “very worried” about the 18-year-old miner. The government has determined that children must act in their best interests to prevent them from moving to adult detention centres. He told the United States that Guatemala was willing to receive “all unaccompanied minors who wanted to voluntarily return to Guatemala.”
Arevalo explained that his administration began working to identify minors, those who are willing to return, those who wanted to wait for legal proceedings in the United States, and those who were allowed to remain relatives.
Guatemala can receive around 150 minors a week, he said. “It depends on the ability to identify relatives to promote safe benefits,” he said. The goal is to ensure that none of the children are institutionalized.
The president refused when asked if the numbers sent on Sunday would surprise the Guatemala government or if he thought the US government had done legitimate procedures before placing minors on planes.
He said his administration told the US government that if the judge determined that unaccompanied Guatemalan children cannot remain in the US, Guatemala would take them and reintegrate.
“We’ve coordinated this with the US, but the decision to send, the number they intend to send, and the rhythm they send is the decision of the US government,” Arevalo said.
How many children can you send home?
One of the greatest biggest questions is that Guatemala children will be sent back to Guatemala.
The Guatemala immigration director put the number 341 in July. Then on Friday, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. I wrote a letter to According to Whistleblower accounts, the office said it was planning to eliminate nearly 700 Guatemalan children, and the Refugee Resettlement Bureau said it was planning to eliminate nearly 700 Guatemalan children.
Also on Friday, Guatemala Foreign Minister, Minister Carlos Martinez, said the exact numbers were in fluidity, but they are currently discussing more than 600.
The US government in a status report filed Sunday in Washington, D.C., showed that if 76 children were on a plane to go to Guatemala, they were repatriated to refugee resettlement custody after the judge’s verdict.
There were two planes in Harlingen, Texas, and perhaps another one was thought to be in El Paso on Sunday, the National Center for Immigration Law said. It is a group that filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C. on Sunday to stop the removal.
However, it is not clear whether there are other children who were taken from the shelter and on their way to the plane before the judge entered a temporary restraining order.
Immigrant children have special protection
Migrant children traveling alone are usually left to the care of the US government, and when they are in the US and navigate the immigration system, there are a variety of legal protections designed to protect them.
The Human Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 is one of the key laws designed to protect children of unaccompanied immigrants. With a few limited exceptions, it generally requires children to be placed in the “most restrictive setting possible.” This generally means that they can be released to sponsors such as US relatives while immigration procedures are in place.
Children are unable to return to their home country due to abuse or neglect, and can also apply for asylum or for specially protected status.
In the court’s application, supporters of Guatemalan children noted that only immigration judges could determine whether unaccompanied minors could voluntarily leave the United States.
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Perez reported from the city of Guatemala. Associated Press Reporter Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed to the report.
