FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Melissa Stek, Communications Consultant, melissa@mountgem.com
Tom Salyers, Director of Communications, tsalyers@clasp.org
Washington, DC, September 2, 2025—Members of the Children Thrive Action Network (CTAN) are outraged that the Trump Administration tried to forcibly remove dozens of children in immigration proceedings over the holiday weekend, pulling them from their beds in the middle of the night. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration from deporting the children following a class action lawsuit filed by CTAN members, the National Immigration Law Center and the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.
Wendy Cervantes, Director of Immigration and Immigrant Families at the Center for Law and Social Policy:
“Waking children from their sleep in the middle of the night to deport them back to danger is cruel, reckless, and unlawful. The federal government has a responsibility to take care of children in their custody, which means keeping them safe and secure while they navigate legal proceedings with the help of a trained advocate. This latest terrorizing act of the Trump Administration shows their blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable immigrant children and families. Any decision regarding unaccompanied children must prioritize their best interest—and deporting them without due process or without ensuring their return to safe conditions falls drastically short of that standard.”
Gladys Hernandez, Managing Attorney of the Young Center’s Child Advocate Program in Harlingen, TX:
“We witnessed children, some as young as ten years old, abruptly awoken in the middle of the night and ordered to pack their belongings because they were being sent back. Terrified and confused, they desperately tried to recall what little they understood about their cases, what the immigration judges had told them, and understand why this was happening. Their grief was overwhelming; they cried so intensely that many had swollen eyes. One very young girl quietly questioned: “¿Por qué me quieren regresar? Mi mamá está muerta y mi papá me abusa. ¿Por qué me quieren hacer daño?” “Why do they want to send me back? My mom is dead and my dad abuses me. Why do they want to hurt me?” The staff could not explain what was happening, leaving the children to anxiously question and speculate among themselves for over 6 hours. They kept asking “why them”. They were made to pick amongst their belongings what to take in the one small duffle they were provided and what to throw away. They were hungry and asking for food and to call family. One girl was despondent because when she called her father, who had heart problems, he screamed and dropped the phone, and she was convinced something had happened to him. In their desperation, the girls began making survival plans, asking who came from which part of Guatemala and how they might help one another once abandoned there.”
Sierra Kraft, Executive Director, Immigrant Children Advocates’ Relief Effort (ICARE):
“The recent federal court decision blocking the deportation of Guatemalan children was a critical intervention that affirmed both the law and the dignity of young people who should never have been forced onto planes without due process. These children have fled violence in search of safety, and the attempt to deport them without a hearing was unconscionable. This decision underscores the fragility of protections that should be guaranteed under U.S. law. ICARE stands for a system that safeguards the rights of children above all, especially those facing a system designed to silence or overwhelm them. Immigration policy must never sacrifice due process or child welfare for speed or optics.”
Neha Desai, Managing Director of Children’s Human Rights & Dignity at the National Center for Youth Law:
“The government’s attempt to secretly deport hundreds of children in the dead of night is legally and morally indefensible. Many of these children have already sought legal protection in the United States after enduring abuse and persecution in their home country. We will continue working closely with the National Immigrant Law Center to safeguard their safety and well-being.”
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The Children Thrive Action Network (CTAN) is a national network of children’s advocacy organizations and service providers committed to protecting and defending children in immigrant families, guided by policy principles to ensure that immigration policies safeguard children’s health, safety, and well-being. Since 2019, CTAN has urged federal and state officials to advance the “best interest of the child” in all policies and to reject policies that put children in harm’s way and undermine their safety.
