The Trump administration is preparing to deport nearly 700 Guatemalan children who entered the United States without their parents, according to a letter sent Friday by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, reported AP. In his letter to Angie Salazar, the acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under the Department of Health and Human Services, Wyden warned that such removals would violate the ORR’s “child welfare mandate” and America’s long-standing obligation towards unaccompanied minors. “This move threatens to separate children from their families, lawyers, and support systems, to thrust them back into the very conditions they are seeking refuge from, and to disappear vulnerable children beyond the reach of American law and oversight,” Wyden wrote, urging the administration to scrap the plan. The planned deportations are part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration crackdown, which includes surging enforcement officers to Chicago, escalating deportations, and rolling back protections for migrants who had been allowed to live and work in the US.Guatemala willing to take back minors Guatemalan Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Martínez said his government had informed Washington that it was prepared to take in several hundred children currently held in US facilities. He noted particular concern for minors who risk being transferred to adult detention centres once they turn 18. The number under discussion is a little over 600—almost double the 341 minors the country had previously agreed to repatriate, officials confirmed. Danilo Rivera, director of Guatemala’s Immigration Institute, had earlier said the aim was to bring the children back before they reached adulthood. He added that the process would be managed at Guatemala’s expense and would be classified as “voluntary return.” President Bernardo Arévalo has backed the plan, stressing that the government has both a legal and moral duty to advocate for the children. His comments followed a visit to Guatemala by US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.‘Forcibly removed’ without asylum Wyden’s letter, citing whistleblowers, claimed that children without a parent or legal guardian as a sponsor, or without an active asylum case, “will be forcibly removed from the country.” “Unaccompanied children are some of the most vulnerable children entrusted to the government’s care,” he wrote. “In many cases, these children and their families have had to make the unthinkable choice to face danger and separation in search of safety.” Neither the White House nor the Department of Health and Human Services commented on the matter, which was first reported by CNN.Advocacy groups slam move The proposal has alarmed immigrant rights advocates. “We are outraged by the Trump administration’s renewed assault on the rights of immigrant children,” said Lindsay Toczylowski, president and CEO of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. “We are not fooled by their attempt to mask these efforts as mere ‘repatriations.’ This is yet another calculated attempt to sever what little due process remains in the immigration system.” Children traveling to the US without parents or guardians are typically handed over to ORR upon apprehension at the border. They are placed in government-supervised shelters or foster care until a sponsor—often a family member—is identified. Many also seek asylum, juvenile immigration status, or visas reserved for victims of exploitation. Advocates have already challenged in court the Trump administration’s tougher vetting procedures for unaccompanied children, arguing that the changes are inhumane and prolong family separations.
