US court blocks deportation of Guatemalan children

Washington: A US court on Sunday blocked the government from deporting hundreds of Guatemalan children in a blow to President Donald Trump s sweeping...

Washington: A US court on Sunday blocked the government from deporting hundreds of Guatemalan children in a blow to President Donald Trump's sweeping crackdown on migrants.

More than 600 unaccompanied minors living in the United States were facing deportation to Guatemala under a pilot program negotiated with the Central American country, a court filing said.

But Sunday's ruling, which followed an emergency complaint by a migrant rights group, temporarily halted their removal for at least 14 days.

The National Immigration Law Center had criticized the Trump administration's move, accusing it of having "ripped vulnerable, frightened children from their beds and attempted to return them to danger" during the Labor Day holiday weekend.

"We are heartened the Court prevented this injustice from occurring before hundreds of children suffered irreparable harm," Efren Olivares, a vice president at the NILC, said in a statement.