Federal Judge In CA Orders Reunification Of Families

SAN DIEGO, CA – A federal judge in California ordered a halt to the practice of separating migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border and for separated families to be reunited.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego issued the order Tuesday in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. Under the court order, federal officials must stop detaining parents apart from their children, unless the parent is deemed unfit or declines reunification.

Children younger than 5 years old must be reunited with their parents within 14 days, while older children must be reunited with their parents within 30 days, according to the court order. Furthermore, parents must be able to call their children within 10 days, if they are not already in contact with them.

"The facts set forth before the court portray reactive governance – responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the government's own making," Sabraw wrote. "They belie measured and ordered governance, which is central to the concept of due process enshrined in our Constitution.

"The unfortunate reality is that under the present system migrant children are not accounted for with the same efficiency and accuracy as property," added Sabraw, an appointee of President George W. Bush. "Certainly, that cannot satisfy the requirements of due process."

The ACLU originally filed the lawsuit on behalf of a woman who fled religious persecution in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and sought asylum in the U.S. She was separated from her then-6-year-old daughter for nearly five months, according to court documents.

The group now represents more plaintiffs.

"This ruling is an enormous victory for parents and children who thought they may never see each other again," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, who argued the case. "Tears will be flowing in detention centers across the country when the families learn they will be reunited."

More than 2,000 migrant children have been separated from their parents and placed in government-contracted shelters since President Donald Trump's administration began a "zero tolerance" illegal immigration policy. Trump signed an executive order last week to end the separation of families at the border by detaining them together. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news from your California neighborhood. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app. Also, be sure to follow your local Patch on Facebook!)

ALSO SEE:

• California Leads Lawsuit Challenging Trump's Immigration Policy

Photo: Signs asking about detained migrant children are displayed during a rally supporting immigration activist Maru Mora-Villalpando outside the Seattle Immigration Court on June 26, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)