President Donald Trump’s administration faces hard deadlines for reuniting migrant families separated at the border, and the former U.S. Attorney for Arizona says it’s a long shot the government can meet the court-ordered benchmarks.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Southern California gave the Trump administration between 14 and 30 days to reunite migrant children with their parents.
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Meeting the deadlines means federal agencies like the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services will have to work efficiently.
But the government wasn’t ready to implement the zero-tolerance policy that led to family separations, said Paul Charlton, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.
“I suspect meeting these deadlines is going to be difficult, if not impossible, primarily because the government is already back on their heels,” Charlton said.
The government may ask the District Court to reconsider the reunification order, Charlton said. If that's rejected, the government can also appeal to the 9th Circuit.
