Following a court ruling, the Trump administration signaled it would back off its efforts to fast-track the deportation of three Guatemalan day laborers who were detained in California.
As CalMatters’ reporters explain, last month Border Patrol agents arrested the day laborers during an immigration raid in Pomona — about 200 miles north of the Mexico border. The administration planned to deport the workers quickly by retooling an existing policy that enables expedited deportations near the border and for those who recently arrived in the U.S.
But a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order last week, prohibiting the federal government from deporting the workers.
On Monday the feds said the workers were no longer being processed for rapid removal. The workers still haven’t been released from custody, but are now expected to have the opportunity to argue their case before a judge.
Last week’s ruling comes nearly a month after another judge temporarily barred Border Patrol agents in El Centro from conducting warrantless immigration sweeps.