Federal judge, displeased Trump withheld child separation data, may order more family reunifications


On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw told the Justice Department that he may expand his order from last July that the Trump administration reunite most families separated under President Trump's "zero tolerance" border policy in the light of new evidence that the policy started earlier than originally acknowledged.
"No one but a few in the government knew that these separations had been going on nine or 10 months before, and that hundreds if not thousands of children were" being separated, Sabraw told Justice Department lawyer Scott Stewart. "The court didn't know that and plaintiffs didn't know that, and I don't think government counsel knew that." Stewart pushed back, saying accounting for and reuniting more than the roughly 2,800 families included under Sabraw's original order would "blow the case into some other galaxy" and suggested such an decision may push the Justice Department to fight Sabraw "tooth and nail."
The ACLU, the plaintiff in the case, wants Sabraw to extend his order to all families separated under Trump since July 2017, and ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said his organization is "prepared, no matter how big the burden is," to continue helping track down separated parents and children, with information provided by the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Health and Human Services. The first step is identifying which parents and children have been separated. "It's important to recognize that we're talking about human beings," Sabraw reminded Stewart. "Every person needs to be accounted for."
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.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has continued separating hundreds of children from their families under a system where U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents untrained in child welfare decide if a parent poses a "danger" to the child, USA Today details. "Family separations are still very much happening in the southern border," Efrén Olivares at the Texas Civil Rights Project tells NBC News. The organization has discovered at least a few wrongly separated families, he added.
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.
-
Hegseth reportedly shared war plans in 2nd group text
Speed Read The defense secretary sent information about an attack in Yemen to a Signal group chat that included his wife and brother
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contempt
Speed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cuts
Speed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deportee
Speed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Trump says electronics tariff break won't last
Speed Read The tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices are temporary, the administration says
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's Shapiro
Speed Read Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping when someone set fire to his Harrisburg mansion
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
White House pushes for oversight of Columbia University
Speed Read The Trump administration is considering placing the school under a consent decree
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Supreme Court backs wrongly deported migrant
Speed Read The Trump administration must 'facilitate' the return of wrongfully deported migrant Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador, Supreme Court says
By Peter Weber, The Week US