Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC Horrified by Attempted Illegal Deportation of Guatemalan Children
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On August 31, the Trump Administration tore Guatemalan immigrant children as young as 10 years old from shelters and foster homes and rushed them to airports for deportation flights. This unlawful action was carried out in the middle of night during a holiday weekend without due process. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order immediately halting the removals and allowing the children to stay in the United States for at least two more weeks. Reporting suggests that the government was planning to deport hundreds of Guatemalan children in this manner.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC issues the following statement in response:
“We are disturbed by the government’s attempt to deport vulnerable children and send them back to danger despite various laws and protections for unaccompanied children. This is yet another example of the Trump Administration shamelessly claiming to seek to help children while actually subjecting them to situations of abuse, neglect, and even death. If the government is allowed to proceed with these deportations, we have no doubt that they will attempt to expand the practice to other unaccompanied minors.
“We are also deeply concerned with how the government has tried, yet again, to violate the law in the dead of night. By attempting to whisk children away in the late hours of the night on a holiday weekend, the government has shown that it has something to hide and that it is seeking to avoid accountability.
“This blatant attempt to put minors in harm’s way and further their racist, anti-immigrant agenda ignores the rights of these children to seek relief and protection under the law. We are relieved that the court has stepped in swiftly, and we applaud those who are continuing to work to protect the most vulnerable among us from the administration’s cruelty. We urge the government to abandon its inhumane immigration policies immediately. We see the Administration's anti-immigrant actions for what they are: ultimately harmful to all children and families, including Asian Americans.”
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