Trump Plan to Deport 700 Guatemalan Children Faces Intense Criticism

The Trump administration’s plan to deport nearly 700 unaccompanied Guatemalan children from U.S. custody has ignited fierce criticism, with Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) condemning the move as a breach of the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s (ORR) child welfare mandate. In a letter sent Friday to ORR Acting Director Angie Salazar, Wyden demanded the immediate termination of the deportation plans, warning that they threaten to thrust vulnerable children back into dangerous conditions.

“Unaccompanied children are some of the most vulnerable entrusted to the government’s care,” Wyden wrote, citing whistleblower accounts that children without a parent or legal guardian sponsor, or those without active asylum cases, face forcible removal. “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,” he added, emphasizing the trauma many have endured fleeing to the U.S.

The plan, first reported by CNN, targets over 600 Guatemalan children in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees unaccompanied minors until they can be released to sponsors, typically family members. The initiative, described as a pilot program with Guatemala’s government, aligns with broader Trump administration efforts to ramp up deportations, including immigration crackdowns in cities like Chicago and the termination of protections for legal residents.

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Guatemala’s Foreign Affairs Minister Carlos Martínez expressed readiness to receive the minors, citing concerns about children aging out of juvenile facilities and being transferred to adult detention centers. However, the Guatemalan government declined to comment further. No timeline for the repatriations has been confirmed, but the scale—nearly double the 341 minors previously discussed by Guatemala’s Immigration Institute—has raised alarm.

Advocacy groups have fiercely opposed the plan, with Lindsay Toczylowski, president and CEO of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, calling it a “renewed assault on the rights of immigrant children.” She dismissed the administration’s framing of the deportations as “repatriations,” arguing it undermines due process. “This is yet another calculated attempt to sever what little due process remains in the immigration system,” Toczylowski said.

Unaccompanied minors, primarily from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, are typically placed in ORR-supervised shelters or foster care while awaiting release to sponsors. They can apply for asylum, juvenile immigration status, or visas for victims of exploitation. However, new Trump administration vetting procedures have extended the average custody period from 67 days in December 2024 to 187 days in July 2025, prompting lawsuits from advocates who argue the policies are inhumane and prolong family separations.

Senator Wyden’s letter underscores the U.S.’s long-standing obligation to protect unaccompanied children, many of whom flee violence, poverty, or persecution. Critics, including Neha Desai of the National Center for Youth Law, argue that deporting children based solely on nationality violates federal law requiring timely release to suitable sponsors. “Sending children back without real safety plans is not ‘repatriation’—it is abandonment,” said Gladis Molina Alt of the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.

The White House and HHS have not responded to requests for comment. As the administration’s immigration enforcement intensifies, the fate of these children remains a flashpoint in the contentious debate over U.S. immigration policy, with advocates urging judicial intervention to halt the deportations.

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