{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/newsweek-trump-appointed-judge-says-admin-argument-crumbled-like-a-house-of-cards/", "Newsweek: Trump-Appointed Judge Says Admin Argument \u2018Crumbled Like a House of Cards\u2019", "2025-09-18", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "CA", "Alex Padilla", "P000145", "www.padilla.senate.gov", "padilla", "https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "By Gabe Whisnant\n\nA federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from immediately deporting Guatemalan migrant children who entered the United States alone, halting an aggressive effort to send them back to their home country.\n\nThe ruling marks the latest chapter in a legal battle over one of the most contentious issues in President Donald Trump\u2019s hard-line immigration agenda.\n\nWhy It Matters\n\nThe decision, handed down by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, came in response to the administration\u2019s attempt over Labor Day weekend to deport Guatemalan minors living in government-run shelters and foster care facilities.\n\nWhat To Know\n\nTrump officials argued that the plan was intended to reunite children with parents who supposedly wanted them returned home. But Judge Kelly sharply rejected that reasoning.\n\n\u201cBut that explanation crumbled like a house of cards about a week later,\u201d wrote Kelly, who was appointed by President Trump during his first term. \u201cThere is no evidence before the Court that the parents of these children sought their return.\u201d\n\nBefore Thursday\u2019s ruling, a temporary order had already been preventing the removal of Guatemalan children. That order, however, was set to expire Tuesday. Kelly, himself a Trump appointee, granted a preliminary injunction that extends the protection indefinitely, though the government retains the right to appeal.\n\nWhile the judge preserved safeguards for Guatemalan children, he declined to broaden the ruling to cover minors from other countries. He noted, however, that any attempt to remove those children in a similar manner \u201cwould likely be unlawful.\u201d\n\nOther federal courts have weighed in on related cases. Judges in Arizona and Illinois have issued temporary restraining orders as well, though those rulings cover a narrower group of children. The broader Washington case, advocates argue, underscores the national significance of Kelly\u2019s decision.\n\nThe legal clash followed a late-night government operation on Aug. 30. Shelters housing migrant children were abruptly notified that Guatemalan minors in their care would be returned within hours. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contractors arrived to collect children from shelters and foster homes, transporting them to airports. Court filings revealed that the administration had initially identified 457 Guatemalan children for deportation. That number was later reduced to 327, and on Aug. 31, 76 children boarded planes in El Paso and Harlingen, Texas, bound for Guatemala as part of what officials described as a \u201cfirst phase.\u201d\n\nImmigration and children\u2019s rights advocates quickly filed lawsuits, seeking to block the deportations. They argued that many of the minors were escaping abuse or violence in their home country and that the administration was sidestepping longstanding legal protections designed to prevent young migrants from being returned to dangerous conditions.\n\nIn response, another federal judge in Washington issued a temporary restraining order that largely prohibited the deportation of Guatemalan minors, except in cases where immigration judges had already reviewed and ordered removal. That order lasted 14 days and was later extended by Kelly through Tuesday to give him time to more closely examine the case.\n\nThe Trump administration maintained it had the authority to return the children and initially claimed it acted at the behest of Guatemalan parents. But officials later walked back that assertion. Instead, the Guatemalan government expressed concern about minors in U.S. custody who were nearing their 18th birthdays and faced the possibility of transfer to adult detention facilities.\n\nUnder existing policy, children who cross the southern border without a parent or guardian are transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. They typically live in a nationwide network of shelters overseen by the office until they are released to a sponsor, often a relative.\n\nWhat People Are Saying\n\nDemocratic Senator Alex Padilla of California said in a statement to Newsweek: \u201cToday\u2019s court decision provides some hope in the face of the Trump Administration\u2019s disturbing, middle of the night push to remove unaccompanied Guatemalan children and put them back into harm\u2019s way. This Administration must be held accountable for its attempts to violate these children\u2019s due process rights and endanger them, especially in light of the concerning allegations we received in the whistleblower complaint. While this decision protects Guatemalan children for now, I am deeply concerned about similar deportations of children to other countries, especially when we cannot be confident that Administration officials are following the law.\u201d\n\nWhat Happens Next\n\nAfter securing the restraining order for Guatemalan children, advocates also pressed the court to extend protections to minors from other countries. Reports had surfaced that the administration was preparing to deport Honduran children as well, raising alarms that similar efforts could soon be underway.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.padilla.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/newsweek-trump-appointed-judge-says-admin-argument-crumbled-like-a-house-of-cards/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.870430376380682, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}