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US judge orders separated families be reunited
LOS ANGELES, June 27, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A US judge ordered that migrant
families separated at the border with Mexico under President Donald Trump’s
“zero tolerance” policy be reunited within 30 days.
For children under five the reunification must take place within two weeks
of the order, issued Tuesday by US District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego.
Sabraw issued the ruling in response to a suit filed by the American Civil
Liberties Union on behalf of a seven-year-old girl who was separated from her
Congolese mother and a 14-year-old boy who was separated from his Brazilian
mother.
The judge also issued an injunction against any more family separations.
Trump signed an executive order last week halting his government’s
practice of taking children away from parents who cross the border without
papers, even to seek asylum. Many are fleeing violence in Central America.
But the order made no specific provisions for families already separated
under the policy, which drew scorn as inhumane and even a form of child abuse
in heated criticism in America and around the world.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1205 hrs