Federal Court Rebuffs Trump Administration’s Foot Dragging on Family Reunification

SAN DIEGO — A federal court ordered the Trump administration to produce — by tomorrow 5 p.m. PT — a list of all the children under 5 that it forcibly separated from their parents.

The American Civil Liberties Union won a June 26 preliminary injunction requiring reunification of children under 5 within 14 days, and all children within 30 days.

The parties were back in court today for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw. When the government was unable to provide a precise update to the court on the progress of reunification, the judge ordered the Trump administration to produce a list of children under 5. The court also left intact the reunification deadlines despite a last-minute government filing suggesting it needed more time.

Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, had this reaction:

“The judge made it very clear he wasn’t going to allow the Trump administration to drag its feet on reunifying these children with their parents. We oppose the administration’s efforts to further prolong the suffering of these families.”