Guatemala Pushes for Return of Unaccompanied Children Detained in US, Amid Asylum Dispute

Following a federal court ruling that halted the removal of unaccompanied Guatemalan minors from the United States, the Guatemalan government announced on August 31st that it had proposed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem the repatriation of these minors to their home country.

In a statement published via social media platform X on the same day as the court decision, the Guatemalan government expressed concerns about the children’s stay in shelters and detention centers and advocated for coordinated efforts to reunite them with their families. The government also plans to assess each child’s needs and integrate them into social programs in Guatemala.

The Guatemalan government has not yet disclosed the number of children it requested be returned from the U.S., nor confirmed whether all parents have consented to the children’s return. In response to queries from NPR, the government did not immediately respond and did not directly address these questions in its statement.

It appears there may be a discrepancy in the timeline provided by the Guatemalan government regarding when it proposed the idea of sending back the unaccompanied minors to Noem. The government stated this occurred during Noem’s visit to Guatemala in July, however, her visit took place on June 26th, following stops in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Paraguay as part of a tour of Central America.

During her visit, Noem and Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez signed agreements, including one that could potentially allow people seeking asylum in the U.S. to do so in Guatemala instead. This is despite current U.S. law permitting asylum seekers to remain as they comply with court proceedings relevant to their case.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to NPR’s request for comment regarding whether Guatemala had suggested the repatriation of unaccompanied minors during Noem’s June visit to the country.

Attorneys representing the Guatemalan children slated for deportation argue that the process to remove these minors has not respected their rights. They believe the U.S. has violated both federal laws and the U.S. constitution by attempting to send children back without allowing them to first finish pursuing their asylum claims.

Efrén C. Olivares, Vice President of Litigation at the National Immigration Law Center, stated, “In the dead of night on a holiday weekend, the Trump administration forcibly removed vulnerable, terrified children from their beds and sought to return them to danger in Guatemala.”

On August 31st, a U.S. district court issued an emergency Temporary Restraining Order, preventing the government from removing any unaccompanied Guatemalan minors in its custody for the next 14 days. The National Immigration Law Center has pledged to continue defending the rights of these children to remain in the U.S.