Washington DC - A federal judge has temporarily paused a Trump administration initiative designed to keep migrant children in government custody even after they turn 18.

US District Judge Rudolph Contreras issued a temporary restraining order against ICE banning it from transferring child migrants into adult detention centers when they turn 18.

President Donald Trump's administration has moved to keep detaining unaccompanied migrant children even after they turn 18 by simply transferring them to adult facilities.

Contreras issued the restraining order on the basis that such transfers violate a prior order that prohibits automatic detention.

The 2021 order, which was also issued by Contreras, instructed ICE to release minors who have turned 18 to "the least restrictive setting available."

The latest ruling came amid reports the Trump administration is offering unaccompanied migrant children $2,500 payments if they volunteer to self-deport.

"All of these are pieces of the same general policy to coerce immigrant youth into giving up their right to seek protection in the United States," said Michelle Lapointe, an immigration lawyer for the American Immigration Council.

Murad Awawdeh, the president of the New York Immigration Coalition, condemned Trump's $2,500 payment policy based on the harm it inflicts on young people and claims that it undermines the legal system.

"This policy pressures children to abandon their legal claims and return to a life of fear and danger without ever receiving a fair hearing," Awawdeh said in a statement. "The chaos built into this policy will devastate families and communities – and it is targeted to hurt children."