The decision was made late on Sunday local time, after the organization The National Immigration Law Center had filed a lawsuit the same day, reports media in the US.
The lawsuit specifically concerned ten children from Guatemala between 10 and 17 years old who were about to be deported as part of a pilot program that the Trump administration claims to have negotiated with the Guatemalan government.
Judge Sparkle Sooknanan's decision applies for two weeks and also includes other minors who are part of the pilot program. According to Axios it involves over 600 children.
The judge, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, writes that the children risk "abuse, neglect, persecution and torture" if they are sent back to Guatemala. They will now be taken care of in accommodations until the matter can be more permanently resolved.
The White House's deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller has a different opinion. He writes on X that the minors have stated that their parents are in Guatemala, but that "a democratic judge is preventing them from being reunited with their parents".
Carrying out mass deportations of migrants who are in the country illegally was one of President Donald Trump's most prominent campaign promises during last year's election campaign. The President has repeatedly accused undocumented immigrants of violent crimes and drug smuggling and promised to deport them.
