Judge orders reuniting of immigrant parents, children

A federal judge in California late Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to reunite within 30 days all immigrant children and parents separated at the U.S. southern border. For children under the age of 5, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw gave the government just 14 days to complete the reunification process. The preliminary injunction also told the government to stop separating immigrant children and parents in the future unless the parent posed a risk to the child. Sabraw’s order came as the result of a class-action lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union brought on behalf of immigrant families. In his ruling, Sabraw wrote that the “situation has reached a crisis level,” and he chided the Trump administration for leaving immigrant parents responsible for tracking down their own children once their criminal cases were dismissed.

The U.S. House of Representatives was expected to vote Wednesday afternoon on a compromise immigration bill that would end family separations, offer a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrant children, and provide $25 billion for a border wall. Although the bill was not expected to pass, President Donald Trump tweeted in all caps his support: “HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL … EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE. PASSAGE WILL SHOW THAT WE WANT STRONG BORDERS & SECURITY WHILE THE DEMS WANT OPEN BORDERS = CRIME. WIN!”