A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting hundreds of unaccompanied children to Guatemala.

Dozens of children who illegally crossed the US border without their parents were waiting on the tarmac on Sunday when the US district judge Sparkle L Sooknanan ruled they could not be deported.

The ruling is the latest blow to Donald Trump and his pledge to carry out the largest deportation drive in US history.

It means Guatemalan children who arrived at the border without their parents or guardians can remain in the country for at least two weeks while their lawyers oppose their deportation.

“I don’t want there to be any ambiguity about what I am ordering,” said the judge. She ruled the government “cannot remove any children” while the case proceeds.

On Monday, Bernardo Arévalo, Guatemala’s president, said his government had been coordinating with the US to receive the young people.