At Least 66 unaccompanied minors have been expelled from the United States even after a federal judge ordered border patrol officials to stop the practice.

In late November, a federal judge ordered border patrol authorities to stop the practice of expelling migrant children without giving them the opportunity to seek humanitarian refuge. The order, which was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, explains that unaccompanied migrant children who are taken into border patrol custody must be placed in government shelters while they wait for their immigration case to proceed. The policy is limited to unaccompanied migrant children and does not protect adults or families with children from being expelled.

Prior to the order being issued, the Trump administration expelled the unaccompanied minors using a public health law in Title 42 of the U.S. Code. The health law stipulates that the U.S. government has the authority "to prohibit, in whole or in part, the introduction of persons" who could spread a communicable disease like the coronavirus within the borders of the U.S.

The administration used the CDC’s guidance on the coronavirus, stating that housing refuge-seeking migrants would help fuel the pandemic within the U.S. Because of this, the administration expelled over 200,000 migrants back to their home country, Mexico, and Canada by the close of September 2020. Over 9,000 unaccompanied minors were expelled during this time as well.

Judge Sullivan's injunction placing a hold on expelling unaccompanied migrant children acknowledged the public health law used by the Trump administration and found it to be lacking authority to deport the unaccompanied children. Sullivan also agreed with two other federal judges that the public health law does not have the authority to override protections and due process afforded to migrants by Congress.

The ACLU also argues against the administration's use of this outdated public health law which has rarely been used. The ACLU praised the efforts of Judge Sullivan's ruling with ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt stating, “Today’s ruling is a critical step in halting the Trump administration’s unprecedented and illegal attempt to expel children under the thin guise of public health. The administration’s order has already allowed for the rapid expulsion of more than 13,000 children in need of protection, who were legally entitled to apply for asylum.”

So far, there have been two declarations made from two different Customs and Border Protection officials. Rodney Scott, the U.S. Border Patrol Chief, confirmed that border patrol agents have expelled 26 unaccompanied migrant minors. In his declaration, Scott indicates that the migrants range from ages 14 to 17 years old.

The second border patrol official, William Farrara, the head of the Office of Field Operations, stated in his declaration that at least eight unaccompanied minors were expelled. These minors ranged in ages from 12 to 17 years old. It was later found that one of the underage migrants was actually a U.S. citizen and was later allowed to re-enter the country.

After both border officials submitted their declarations, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) also confirmed that it had expelled 32 unaccompanied minors from the United States. In this case, these unaccompanied migrants were put on a flight to Guatemala. ICE officials maintain that when the deportation of these 32 migrants happened, the agency was unaware of Judge Sullivan's ruling. ICE official Jeffrey Lynch said of the deported migrants, "At the time the flight arrived in Guatemala City and the unaccompanied minors were transferred, neither the ICE personnel on the flight nor those on the ground in Guatemala City, were aware of the injunction.

In response to the unauthorized deportations, the ACLU's Lee Gelernt stated, "The widespread failure to comply with the injunction is deeply concerning and we hope the illegally expelled children will not be harmed before they can be found, if they can be found."

Both border officials William Farrara and Rodney Scott have expressed their regret for their part in the wrongful deportations. They have also expressed that changes will be made to operations so that the unlawful expulsion of migrant children does not happen again.