After Guatemalan Kids Put on Planes, US Judge Halts Flights

After the US government loaded children onto planes overnight to be sent back to their native Guatemala, a federal judge temporarily blocked the flights—with the youngsters still inside—as their attorneys said authorities were violating US laws and sending vulnerable kids into potential peril. The AP reports the extraordinary drama played out over predawn hours on a US holiday weekend and vaulted from tarmacs in Texas to a courtroom in Washington. The New York Times reports the administration has been barred from deporting the kids, some as young as 10, for 14 days. More:

• The impact: For now, hundreds of Guatemalan children who arrived unaccompanied will stay while the legal fight plays out over the coming weeks. "I do not want there to be any ambiguity," said Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan, who said her ruling applies broadly to Guatemalan minors who arrived in the US without their parents or guardians.
• Just after the ruling: Minutes after she wrapped up a hastily scheduled hearing Sunday afternoon, five charter buses pulled up to a plane parked at the border-area airport in Harlingen, Texas.

• Earlier Sunday: Hours earlier, authorities had walked dozens of passengers—perhaps 50—toward the plane in a part of the airport that's restricted to government planes, including deportation flights. The passengers were wearing colored clothing that is used in government-run shelters for migrant children.
• And earlier Saturday: Shaina Aber of Acacia Center for Justice, an immigrant legal defense group, said it was notified Saturday evening that an official list had been drafted with the names of Guatemalan children whom the US administration would attempt to send back to their home country. Advocates learned that the flights would leave from the Texas cities of Harlingen and El Paso, Aber said.
• And earlier Friday: The Trump administration is planning to remove nearly 700 Guatemalan children who came to the US unaccompanied, according to a letter sent Friday by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. The Guatemalan government has said it is ready to take them in.
• The feds' stance: The US government insists it's reuniting the Guatemalan children with parents or guardians who sought their return. Lawyers for at least some of the minors say that's nonsense and argue that in any event, authorities are depriving them of due process by preventing them from pursuing asylum claims or immigration relief.