Judge bars family separations of migrants, orders return of children within 30 days: NPR

A federal judge in San Diego has banned the separation of migrant children and ordered that people currently detained under the Trump Administration's "zero tolerance" policy be reunited with families within 30 days.

The order, which fell Tuesday night, is the result of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. It requires that children under five who are held in federal contract shelters be returned to their parents earlier – within 14 days. Parents have the right to talk to their children within 10 days, according to the US District Court's Southern California District Court decision.

"The unfortunate reality is that under the current system, migrant children are not accounted for with the same efficiency and accuracy as property," Judge Dana M. Sabraw said in the ruling.

"The facts presented to the Court present responsive responses to governance to remedy a chaotic situation of the government itself," Sabraw said in a clear decision to address the situation on the southern border, where more than 2 000 migrants children have been separated from their parents in recent weeks.

"They claim to be measured and orderly governance, which is central to the concept of due process enshrined in our Constitution," said Sabraw.

The ACLU sued the Trump administration on behalf of a 7-year-old girl who was separated from her Congolese mother, according to Raquel Maria Dillon of the KQED member station.

The national injunction on family separations of migrants applies to all children unless the parents are found to be unfit or do not want to be with the child, according to the Associated Press.

The decision follows President Trump's signing of an executive order last week, reversing his family separation policy, but without providing a timetable for family reunification.

The ruling also blocks the deportation of the parents, unless they are considered a danger to their child.

"This decision is a huge victory for parents and children who thought they might never see each other again," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, who argued in favor of this case.

"Tears will flow in detention centers across the country when families learn that they will be reunited," he said in a statement.

According to the Washington Post, Judge Sabraw, 59, "was appointed to federal court by George W. Bush in 2003. His mother was a Japanese immigrant, his father served in the US Army and was stationed at Japan during the Korean War The couple married in Yokohama, Japan, before moving to San Rafael, California. "