An Orlando federal judge has ordered two 12-year-old twin sisters, both U.S. citizens, to be brought back to Florida after they were deported to Guatemala following their detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The girls, born in Orlando in 2013, were placed on a flight that departed from Orlando after authorities seized them at an ICE facility where they had been waiting with their families. U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell granted a writ of habeas corpus directing federal officials to arrange the twins’ immediate and safe return to a designated caregiver in Orlando.
The petition was filed by the twins’ grandmother, Sonia Garcia Valles, who argued the children had been unlawfully detained, according to Newsweek. The case unfolded in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, where Presnell ordered federal authorities to coordinate the logistics needed to bring the girls back.
Court filings reviewed by La Opinión state that on Monday, the twins were waiting with their grandmother in a parking lot outside an ICE facility while their mother, Marly Carolina Morataya Zepeda, attended a scheduled immigration appointment inside. The documents also show Zepeda had submitted a form on February 25 indicating she wanted the children to remain in the United States with their grandmother, a detail the judge cited while questioning how the girls ended up on a flight to Guatemala.
What the judge ordered
Presnell’s order requires federal officials to pay for a direct flight from Guatemala City to Orlando International Airport and to provide unaccompanied-minor services during the journey, according to Yahoo. The ruling also instructs the government to return the twins’ passports and other personal property and bars officials from rearresting or detaining the girls after they are back in U.S. custody.
ICE's explanation and the family's reaction
At a court hearing, ICE’s acting field office director, Kellei Walker, testified that officials believed they were following a policy that allows deported parents to decide whether their children travel with them. The judge noted “there was confusion regarding Zepeda’s election,” according to Newsweek. Attorneys for the family say the grandmother had been waiting outside the facility when an officer asked the twins to come inside, after which they were taken into custody, a sequence that court filings say contradicted earlier paperwork. Presnell’s order described those inconsistencies as central to the petition for habeas relief.
Legal implications and context
The court filing names Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons as defendants, La Opinión reports. Federal judges have previously stepped in to halt or reverse deportations to third countries amid legal challenges over how children are moved, a pattern documented by AP.
The district court has said it will supervise compliance with Presnell’s order while the government arranges travel and reunification in Orlando, and the family’s lawyers have urged officials to act quickly since the children have already been removed, according to Yahoo. For now, the twins remain abroad while federal authorities finalize the logistics and the court confirms that their return can be carried out safely.
