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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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A federal judge has ordered the return to Florida of two 12-year-old U.S. citizen twin sisters who were deported to Guatemala after being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to court filings.
The girls, born in Orlando in 2013 and U.S. citizens, were removed from the United States on a flight that departed Orlando after authorities took them into custody at an ICE facility, according to a court order reviewed by Newsweek.
A spokesperson for ICE told Newsweek on March 13 that the two girls have been returned to the country.
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The case was heard in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, where U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell granted a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and directed federal authorities to facilitate the children’s immediate and safe return. The petition, filed by the girls' grandmother on behalf of the twins, alleged that they had been unlawfully detained.
The children were waiting with their grandmother, Sonia Garcia Valles, in a parking lot at the ICE facility while their mother, Marly Carolina Morataya Zepeda, attended an immigration appointment in Orlando on March 9, according to court filings.
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'Family Unit' Confusion
According to the filing, an ICE officer instructed them to come to the facility entrance, where the girls were taken into custody under a so-called “family unity” policy.
After the petition was filed, the court temporarily restrained officials from moving the children outside the Middle District of Florida. Government attorneys later notified the court that the girls had already been deported with their mother on a flight to Guatemala.
At a hearing, ICE’s acting field office director, Kellei Walker, said officials believed they were following policy allowing deported parents to decide whether their children would remain in the United States or travel with them. The filings say that the mother had previously submitted a form saying she wanted the children to remain in the United States.
"Ms. Walker stated at the hearing that there was confusion regarding Zepeda’s election, representing that ICE understood that she wanted to ... take her children with her. However, both Ms. Walker and counsel for Respondents also recognized that on February 25, 2026, Zepeda had filed a form indicating she would like to leave the children with Valles," the judge wrote in a court document.
A spokesperson for ICE told Newsweek: “ICE does NOT deport United States citizens or separate families. ICE does NOT separate families. Parents are given a choice. They can bring their children with them or place them with a safe adult they designate.
“ICE gave Marly Carolina Morataya Zepeda, an illegal alien from Guatemala MUTLIPLE opportunities to voluntary to depart the U.S. and she chose to illegally remain in the country. On February 25th, Morataya Zepeda submitted paperwork she wanted to leave her children with a relative in the U.S.
"However, following her failure to voluntary depart, ICE arrested her on March 9, and she verbally told ICE officers that she wanted to take her minor USC children with her to Guatemala. ICE officers honored her choice and brought the children to her and removed them as a family. The parent changed her mind again following removal and wanted the children to return to the U.S. ICE facilitated the children’s return to the U.S. and reunited them with their grandmother.”
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Return Flight, With Costs Covered
Judge Presnell’s order directs federal authorities to cover the cost of a direct flight from Guatemala City to Orlando International Airport, including unaccompanied minor services, and to reunite the twins with their designated caregiver upon arrival.
The order also requires the return of their passports and other personal property and bars federal officials from rearresting or detaining the children.
The lawsuit names Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem, and acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons as defendants. The order also notes that the children’s father, Antony Teo Garcia, is allegedly a lawful permanent resident, though the court did not resolve why ICE told the children they could not remain with him.
"It is unclear why ICE personnel allegedly told Petitioners that they 'could not remain with their father,'" the judge wrote.
Update 3/13/26, 11:25 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from ICE.
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