US Judge Bars Immigration Agents from Separating Parents and Children at the Border

A federal judge has ruled that U.S. immigration agents could no longer separate immigrant parents and children caught crossing the border from Mexico illegally, and must reunite those families that had been split up in custody.

United States District Court Judge Dana Sabraw granted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed over the family separations on Tuesday.

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‘The facts set forth before the court portray reactive governance responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the government’s own making,’ Sabraw wrote.

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Sabraw ordered the government to reunite parents with their children younger than five within 14 days of the order, and children aged five and older within 30 days of the order.

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The ACLU had sued on behalf of a mother and her then six-year-old daughter, who were separated after arriving last November in the United States to seek asylum and escape religious persecution in Democratic Republic of Congo.

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The case is Ms. L et al v U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, No. 18-00428.