President Trump has had a rocky relationship with federal court judges. The court have been quick to reject key parts of the president’s agenda. The Trump administration was forced to rewrite the president’s Muslim ban two times after legal defeats. And judges have rejected the president’s order on “sanctuary cities” and his efforts to deny DACA protections to Dreamers.
Tuesday night, President Trump experienced another setback at the hands of a federal judge. They went after his “zero tolerance” policy.
According to MSNBC News: “A federal judge in San Diego ordered immigration agents on Tuesday to stop separating migrant parents and children who have crossed the border from Mexico and to work to reunite families that have already been split up while in custody.
U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by an anonymous woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo and backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which pursued it as a class action as U.S. authorities began a “zero tolerance” policy in early May.”
Although Trump signed an executive order on family separations a week ago, the administrations attorney’s had to concede in a California court case that the government has not yet reunited roughly 2,000 families. There is even still questions about whether the administration is fully aware of where the isolated children are.
“The government readily keeps track of personal property of detainees in criminal and immigration proceedings,” Sabraw wrote.
“Money, important documents, and automobiles, to name a few, are routinely catalogued, stored, tracked and produced upon a detainee’s release, at all levels — state and federal, citizen and alien. Yet, the government has no system in place to keep track of, provide effective communication with, and promptly produce alien children. The unfortunate reality is that under the present system migrant children are not accounted for with the same efficiency and accuracy as property. Certainly, that cannot satisfy the requirements of due process.”
Judge Sabraw was nominated to the federal bench by George W. Bush. His order mandates that the administration stop separating families and reunite children under the age of 5 with their families within 14 days. They must reunite children over the age of 5 with their families within 30 days, and allow parents to speak with their children by telephone within 10 days.
The White House will most likely appeal the court’s decision and the case will go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the nations most progressive appellate bench. Eventually the case could end up at the Supreme Court.
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