California judge orders U.S. to reunite families separated at border within 30 days

SAN DIEGO -- A judge in California has ordered U.S. border authorities to reunite separated families within 30 days.

If the children are younger than 5, they must be reunified within 14 days of the order, issued Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego issued the order in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union. The lawsuit involves a 7-year-old girl who was separated from her Congolese mother and a 14-year-old boy who was separated from his Brazilian mother.

Sabraw also issued a nationwide injunction on future family separations, unless the parent is deemed unfit.

More than 2,000 children have been separated from their parents in recent weeks and placed in government-contracted shelters. President Donald Trump last week issued an executive order to stop the separation of families and said parents and children will instead be detained together.

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