New Delhi, Aug. 31 -- A US federal judge on Sunday (August 31) ordered an emergency halt to the Trump administration's plan to deport more than 600 unaccompanied Guatemalan children, some of whom had already been placed on planes. The decision came after immigrant advocacy groups sued, calling the move illegal.

"I do not want there to be any ambiguity," said Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan, stressing that her order applied broadly to Guatemalan minors who crossed the border without their parents or guardians. The judge gave a 14-day reprieve, directing that the children be returned to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

According to the suit, attorneys from the National Immigration Law Center argued that US immigration l...