The Guatemalan children that President Donald Trump's administration tried to forcefully deport from the United States speak out about their traumatic experience.
The unaccompanied minors said they were left "depressed" after the government tried to quietly remove them from the country during the holiday weekend. The efforts came despite the children having pending immigration cases.
Guatemalan Children Almost Deported
A 16-year-old also described how several Guatemalan children who were staying at a Texas shelter were woken up in the middle of the night on Saturday. They were allegedly told that they would be returned to their native country in only a few hours.
The teenager's declaration added that around 2:30 a.m., they called their mother to tell her that they might be deported to Guatemala, which caused their parent to start crying. The child was only identified by the initials A.J.D.E. in court records.
The minor's mother, who lives in Guatemala, was not aware of any efforts to have her child removed from the U.S. The declaration noted that she did not want her child to come back to her country, as she does not have the resources to take care of them, and they have no other family to take them in, according to NBC News.
There were 13 other declarations from teenagers like A.J.D.E., the majority of whom were either 16 years old or 17 years old. The declarations were filed on Wednesday as part of the ongoing legal challenge that, on Labor Day weekend, temporarily blocked the removal of any unaccompanied Guatemalan child that was in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
The documents showed that the teenagers described fearing gang recruitment in their native country and violence from relatives, criminal organizations, and even the Guatemalan government.
Donald Trump's Immigration Crackdown
Attorneys who represent the Guatemalan children moved to file a preliminary injunction on Wednesday. They argue that the minors are still at risk of being deported to their native country without a final order from an immigration judge, ABC News reported.
The situation comes after a Guatemalan government report said that 50 of 115 families contacted by investigators said they wanted their children to stay in the U.S. This undermines a key Trump administration claim that the country wants its children back in its territory.
Another 59 families also would not allow government teams in their homes as they believe that refusing to cooperate would make it more likely for their children to stay in the U.S., as per The Washington Times.
