By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. district court judge on Wednesday blocked expulsions of unaccompanied children caught crossing the border illegally, a setback for the outgoing administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which had instituted the policy to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus into the United States.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in the District of Columbia ruled that the minors were likely to suffer irreparable harm because they could be subject to sexual and other violence and face the possibility of torture and death if summarily returned to their home countries.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
