White House faces hard deadline on reunited migrant families

The clock is ticking for the Trump administration after a federal judge ordered thousands of migrant children and parents reunited within 30 days, sooner if the youngster is under 5.

The hard deadline was set last night by US District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego after President Donald Trump's order ending the forced separation of families at the Mexican border gave way to days of uncertainty, conflicting information and no word from the administration on when parents might see their children again.

"This situation has reached a crisis level," Sabraw wrote.

The order poses a host of logistical problems for the administration, and it was unclear how it would meet the deadline.

Health and Human Services, which is in charge of the children, referred questions to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department said the ruling makes it "even more imperative that Congress finally act to give federal law enforcement the ability to simultaneously enforce the law and keep families together."
"The facts set forth before the Court portray reactive governance responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the Government's own making," Sabraw wrote. "They belie measured and ordered governance, which is central to the concept of due process enshrined in our Constitution."