Trump administration’s plan to deport Guatemalan minors, has been criticized as violation of U.S. child welfare obligations and endangers vulnerable children.
President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to deport nearly 700 Guatemalan children who crossed into the United States without their parents, according to a letter from Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon that has sparked widespread concern among human rights advocates.
Wyden said whistleblowers within the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) — the federal agency responsible for unaccompanied migrant children — revealed plans to remove minors who lack legal guardians or active asylum cases. In his letter to Angie Salazar, the acting ORR director, the senator described the proposed deportations as a “clear violation” of the agency’s child welfare mandate.
“Unaccompanied children are some of the most vulnerable individuals entrusted to the government’s care,” Wyden wrote. “In many cases, these children and their families have made the unthinkable choice to face danger and separation in search of safety.”
If carried out, the removals would mark one of the largest coordinated deportations of unaccompanied minors in recent U.S. history. The plan follows a broader push by the Trump administration to tighten immigration enforcement — including an expanded crackdown in Chicago, increased deportations nationwide, and the rollback of long-standing protections for migrants allowed to live and work in the country.
Read Also: US President Trump Proposes 100% Tariff On All Foreign Films
The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the ORR, did not immediately comment on the reports. The Guatemalan government also declined to respond.
Wyden warned that deporting children without legal representation or family sponsors would “thrust them back into the very conditions they are seeking refuge from” and risk “disappearing vulnerable children beyond the reach of American law and oversight.”
Advocates have condemned the move as inhumane and inconsistent with U.S. obligations under international and domestic child protection laws. “We are outraged by the Trump administration’s renewed assault on the rights of immigrant children,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, president of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. “This is yet another calculated attempt to sever what little due process remains in the immigration system.”
Earlier this year, Guatemala’s immigration chief, Danilo Rivera, announced plans to repatriate more than 300 minors from U.S. facilities before they turn 18 to avoid placement in adult detention centers. President Bernardo Arévalo described the effort as a “moral and legal obligation” to assist the children, following a visit by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Unaccompanied minors are typically placed under U.S. government care after crossing the southern border, living in shelters or foster homes until they can reunite with family sponsors or apply for asylum. For many, advocates say, the looming deportations threaten to cut short that fragile process — and send them back into danger.
