On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered the Trump Administration to stop expelling immigrant children who cross the southern border into America alone.
According to NBC News, the order halts a policy that resulted in thousands of rapid deportations of minors who crossed the border during the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan issued a preliminary injunction sought by legal groups suing on behalf of those children whom the government expelled before they could request asylum or other protections under federal law.
The Trump administration had expelled at least 8,800 unaccompanied children since last March when an emergency declaration was issued citing the coronavirus as grounds for barring most people crossing the border from staying in the United States.
Border agents were able to force many people to return to Mexico right away, while detaining others in hotels or holding facilities for days or sometimes-weeks. Meanwhile, government-funded facilities created specifically to hold children while they wait to be placed with sponsors have remained unused.
Judge Sullivan’s order bars only the expulsion of children who cross the border without a parent.
