Judge blocks deportation of Honduran boy in what could be first step in unraveling Trump admin polic

[Judi Lynn]

Since March 21, the Trump admin has been citing public health to deport migrant kids before they can seek asylum regardless of whether they have COVID-19.



Immigrant children outside a temporary shelter in Homestead, Florida, in June.Brynn Anderson / AP file

June 10, 2020, 9:41 AM CDT
By Julia Ainsley and Jacob Soboroff

WASHINGTON — In what could be the first step in unraveling the Trump administration's policy of deporting undocumented immigrant children without an asylum hearing during the COVID-19 crisis, a federal judge temporarily halted the deportation of a 16-year-old Honduran boy who was scheduled to be flown back to his home country on Wednesday.

Judge Emmett Sullivan ordered that the boy, who goes by the initials J.B.B.C. in the case, will not be deported before 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday as a lawsuit challenging the administration's policy moves forward.

J.B.B.C. came to the U.S. to join his father, after both suffered persecution in their native country of Honduras, his lawyers said.

Ordinarily, he would have been placed into the custody of Health and Human Services until he could rejoin his father and proceed with his case for asylum. But since March 21, when the Trump administration began using its Title 42 authority to restrict immigration to protect public health, children like J.B.B.C. have been deported before they can reunite with relatives or seek asylum, regardless of whether they have symptoms of COVID-19.

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees estimated in late May that more than 1,000 immigrant children who arrived in the U.S. unaccompanied had been fast-tracked for deportation, often before family members in their home countries have been notified to receive them.

More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/judge-blocks-deportation-honduran-boy-what-could-be-first-step-n1229111