Judge orders return of 3 deported families protected by family separation settlement

Federal Judge Orders Return of Deported Migrant Families Separated Under Trump Policy

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to bring back three migrant families who were deported in recent months, ruling that their removals involved “lies, deception and coercion” and violated a legal settlement over the Trump administration’s controversial family separation policy.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego issued the order Thursday, determining that the families should have been allowed to remain in the United States under terms of a settlement addressing the 2018 policy that separated approximately 6,000 children from their parents at the southern border. Each mother had been granted humanitarian parole to stay in the U.S. until 2027.

The judge also mandated that the government cover all costs associated with returning the families to the United States.

One case involved a woman and her three children, including a 6-year-old U.S. citizen, who were deported to Honduras in July. According to court documents, immigration authorities had required the woman to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at least 11 times over a two-month period, causing her to lose her job.

The woman stated that ICE officers visited her home and asked her to sign a document agreeing to leave the country, which she refused to do. “This did not make any difference to these officers. They took me and my children to a motel and removed my ankle monitor. They detained us for three days and then removed us to Honduras,” she testified in court filings.

Judge Sabraw firmly rejected the government’s argument that the family had left the country voluntarily. The other two families in the case, identified only by initials in court documents, faced similar circumstances.

“Each of the removals was unlawful, and absent the removals, these families would still be in the United States and have access to the benefits and resources they are entitled to,” wrote Sabraw, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.

The ruling represents a significant rebuke of recent immigration enforcement actions that appear to contradict established legal settlements. Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union representing the families, welcomed the decision.

“The Trump administration has never acknowledged the illegality or gratuitous cruelty of the initial family separation policy and now has started re-deporting and re-separating these same families,” Gelernt said. “The Court put its foot down and not only ordered the families return but did so at government expense.”

The Departments of Homeland Security and Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.

The case brings renewed attention to the controversial “zero-tolerance” policy implemented in 2018, which mandated criminal prosecution of all adults crossing the border illegally, resulting in the separation of thousands of children from their parents. The practice generated intense international backlash, prompting then-President Trump to halt the separations by executive order in June 2018.

Days after Trump’s order, Judge Sabraw issued a ruling requiring an end to the separations and ordering the government to reunite separated families. The subsequent legal settlement prohibits such a family separation policy until 2031.

Immigration advocates have continued monitoring the treatment of previously separated families, particularly as some have faced deportation proceedings despite protections established in the settlement. This latest ruling emphasizes that courts remain vigilant in enforcing the terms of agreements meant to prevent further harm to families previously impacted by the separation policy.

The judge’s order represents a significant victory for advocates working to hold the government accountable for its immigration enforcement actions, especially those affecting vulnerable families who have already experienced trauma from previous separations.