Mass. reverses decision to send 8-year-old American in DCF custody to Guatemala

The Lynn Juvenile Court has reversed an order that would have sent a U.S.-born child to Guatemala, according to two people informed of the court's decision.

The now-vacated order would have required the child, an 8-year-old girl in foster care, be flown to Guatemala to live with her biological father. The Lynn court's decision comes after federal court filings this week detailed a roster of alleged criminal arrests the father faced in the U.S. prior to his deportation in 2024.

Kirsten Zwicker, an attorney representing the girl's former Massachusetts foster parents, called the reversal a major relief.

"We were extraordinarily pleased when this information came to light, that the right thing happened," Zwicker said. "It shouldn't take a separate lawsuit to unearth a lengthy and significant criminal record of an individual who's coming forth and demanding custody of a small child, let alone taking custody in a foreign country where the department has no oversight, no reach to follow up."

The juvenile court does not release records to the public. And Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office, which represents the state and the Department of Children & Families in the federal matter, declined to comment on the case. But Zwicker and a state official with knowledge of the case both told WBUR they were informed by the AG's office of the reversal.

The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families declined to comment.

The girl remains in DCF custody as the case plays out in other courts. Zwicker said the former foster parents requested a hearing to review whether the girl was unfairly removed from their care.

It’s unclear whether the plaintiffs' federal filings this week prompted the Lynn Juvenile Court  to re-evaluate its decision. That court had initially ordered custody of the girl to the father in September 2025 — and she had been slated to be sent to Guatemala as soon as next week.

According to the federal court filing, the girl's biological father has allegedly used numerous different names in the past and has faced arrests, including for assault and battery, assaulting a police officer and selling cocaine.

The father's lawyers did not respond to WBUR's request for comment.

Lawyers for the foster parents in the federal filing said the newly surfaced information was apparently missed by the state juvenile court, which had ordered the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families to send the girl out of the country to a father they say she does not know well.

The girl was moved from the foster parents' home to a different DCF placement in December, according to the foster parents.

Zwicker, the attorney, said the federal lawsuit was aimed at avoiding a precedent that would “expel” more children from the country without federal oversight or due process. But a federal judge in Boston dismissed that case, saying the court did not have jurisdiction.

" Our coming at this with the federal lawsuit was a larger picture, and I hope that that picture and that discussion continues after this case concludes," she said.