Every day brings a fresh horror story from the Trump administration‘s inhumane immigration policy. The cruelty is now clearly the point, with decisions and policies intended to underline that there’s no low ICE won’t sink to.
Over the weekend, Kristi Noem tried her best to deport 600 unaccompanied children, many as young as ten years old. The plan was to put them on flights to Guatemala, dump them in the country, and wash their hands of them. These children are separated from their parents, are recognized as “vulnerable”, and what would happen to them on arrival is unknown (as far as Noem is concerned, not her problem).
BREAKING: A federal judge has *blocked* the Trump administration from abruptly deporting 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan children — perhaps within a matter of hours — granting an emergency restraining order after advocates called the plan illegal + dangerous. https://t.co/Hetxac7fxH pic.twitter.com/oQHDQMIlc8
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 31, 2025
An emergency restraining order blocking this was quickly sought, even as the children were being loaded onto the flights at Harlingen and El Paso airports. Noem’s cunning plan was to get these planes into the air in the early hours of the morning on a holiday weekend. That limits the time the judge has to make a decision, and then at that point, what a shame, it’s too late, nothing can be done, etc.
Fortunately, Judge Sookman was on the ball. She moved the virtual hearing forward and, as it began, commented:
“I have the government attempting to remove minor children from the country in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday weekend, which is surprising, but here we are.”
Government lawyers insisted that “all of these children have parents or guardians in Guatemala who have requested their return”, though that assertion was fiercely contested by lawyers representing the childrens. They argued that U.S. law says minors “receive enhanced protection and care whenever the government seeks to remove them from the United States. Summary removal plainly violates this statutory scheme”, adding:
“Once a child is designated as an unaccompanied minor, numerous legal protections guarantee that they are not removed without due process and are able to pursue forms of relief from deportation for which they may be eligible.”
“A dark and dangerous moment for this country”
With the planes full of kids waiting on the runway, Judge Sookman ordered them not to take off and the planes were emptied. Efrén Olivares of the National Immigration Law Center summed it up:
“It is a dark and dangerous moment for this country when our government chooses to target orphaned 10-year-olds and denies them their most basic legal right to present their case before an immigration judge.”
As of writing, these children are still in the country, though remain in ICE custody. Doubtless, Noem will seek to appeal or overturn this order as soon as practicable, meaning their ultimate fate is still unknown. But Noem doesn’t care about that, she wants these kids to disappear, and she’s not particularly bothered about how that happens.
