Judge says DOJ misled to deport Guatemalan kids

‘There is no evidence before the court that the parents of these children sought their return’

(Image credit: Moises Castillo / AP Photo)

published 19 September 2025

What happened

A federal judge Thursday indefinitely barred the Trump administration from deporting hundreds of Guatemalan children, some of whom endured a failed bid to fly them out of the country in the middle of the night over Labor Day weekend. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said the Justice Department had made false claims in court to justify its “hasty operation,” and the timing of the attempt raised doubts about whether officials were acting in “good faith.”

Who said what

After a different federal judge temporarily blocked the early-morning deportations on Aug. 31, the administration said it had “rousted 76 children from their beds at federal shelters and foster homes and loaded them onto airplanes because they and their parents wanted to reunite,” The Washington Post said. “But that explanation crumbled like a house of cards,” said Kelly, appointed by President Donald Trump. “There is no evidence before the court that the parents of these children sought their return,” and significant evidence “to the contrary.”

A Justice Department lawyer conceded to Kelly in an earlier hearing that the Trump administration couldn’t back up its initial claim. Kelly also pointed to a whistleblower report shared with Congress on Tuesday that showed dozens of the children cleared for deportation had been flagged in a government database as likely victims of child abuse, death threats, gang violence or human trafficking. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Thursday that Kelly was “blocking efforts to REUNIFY CHILDREN with their families” in a “disgraceful and immoral” ruling “just to ‘get Trump.’”

What next?

Kelly said his preliminary injunction blocked the Trump administration from sending minors to Guatemala unless an immigration judge ordered the deportation or they petition to leave voluntarily.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.