SAN DIEGO — A judge said the federal government should return three families harmed by the Trump administration’s first policy of separating parents from children at the border, saying their deportations in recent months relied on “lies, deception and coercion.”
The order, issued Thursday, concluded that the deported families should have been allowed to remain in the United States Within the terms of the legal settlement Concerning the Trump administration’s separation of about 6,000 children from their parents at the border in 2018. Each mother was granted permission to remain in the United States until 2027 under parole on humanitarian grounds.
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego said the administration must also pay for their return travel.
A woman and her three children, including a 6-year-old U.S. citizen, were deported to Honduras in July after they were ordered to register with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at least 11 times over two months, which she said caused her to lose her job.
Spraw rejected the government’s argument that the family left the United States voluntarily. The woman said ICE officers visited her home and asked her to sign a document agreeing to leave, but she refused.
“It didn’t make any difference to these officers. They took me and my children to a hotel and removed my ankle monitor. They detained us for three days and then transferred us to Honduras,” the woman said in court documents.
There were similarities between the other two families, who were identified only by their initials.
“Each of the deportations was unlawful, and without the deportations, these families would remain in the United States and have access to the benefits and resources to which they are entitled,” wrote Sabro, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the families, welcomed the decision.
“The Trump administration never acknowledged the illegality or unjustified cruelty of the initial family separation policy, and has now begun to redeport and reseparate these families. The court made its decision and not only ordered the families to return, but did so at the government’s expense,” he said.
The Departments of Homeland Security and Justice did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Friday.
Under the “zero tolerance” policy.Parents were separated from their children to face criminal prosecution for crossing the border illegally. Sabro ordered an end to the separations in June 2018, days after Trump stopped them on his own amid strong international reactions. The settlement prohibits such a policy until 2031.