Federal judge orders the Trump administration to reunite all migrant families within 30 days


On Tuesday night, a federal judge in San Diego ordered the Trump administration to immediately cease separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border and reunite the families it has already separated within 30 days, or 14 days if the detained child is under 5. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, a George W. Bush appointee, allowed migrant parents to be separated from their children if the parent is found to be unfit or asks to be separated, but he also ordered the federal government to facilitate phone contact between parents and children within 10 days. President Trump signed an order last week to stop separating families, but Sabraw sided with the ACLU against the Trump Justice Department in issuing his nationwide injunction, saying Trump's executive order included "subjective" and narrow standards for child-parent separation.
Under Trump's "zero tolerance border policy," more than 2,500 children were separated from their parents, and just over 2,000 remain apart in detention centers or with foster families. "Measures were not in place to provide for communication between governmental agencies responsible for detaining parents and those responsible for housing children, or to provide for ready communication between separated parents and children," Sabraw wrote. "There was no reunification plan in place, and families have been separated for months." Juan Sanchez, the CEO of Southwest Key Programs, which runs the nation's largest shelters for migrant children, tells The Associated Press that reuniting children with their parents "could take days. ... Or it could take a month, two months, six, or even nine. I just don't know."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will Europe beat China and India to the North Pole?
Podcast Plus, is the man who designed the iPhone going to kill his own creation? And what's going on at the equalities watchdog?
-
Is it finally all change for train Wi-Fi?
In The Spotlight South Western Railway's 5G Wi-Fi service has changed the way passengers connect – but will the new system catch on?
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A cheesy chase, a cinema on water, and more
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges
-
Germany lifts Kyiv missile limits as Trump, Putin spar
speed read Russia's biggest drone and missile attacks of the war prompted Trump to post that Putin 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!'
-
Tied Supreme Court blocks church charter school
speed read The court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to bar overtly religious public charter schools
-
GOP megabill would limit judicial oversight of Trump
speed read The domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House would protect the Trump administration from the consequences of violating court orders