Families separated by the Trump-era zero tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border will receive money in a new settlement agreement.
It’s the latest in a years-long legal saga for the families. Under zero tolerance, border officers were charge adult migrants criminally and take their children to separate facilities. About 5,000 kids were separated between 2017 and 2018. About 1,400 are still not reunited with their parents today, according to reporting from the AP.
This week, a California district court approved a $6 million settlement for families part of a class action lawsuit. Some funds will go directly to them and a large portion will go to the ACLU and other groups representing them.
Some families are together now and in the U.S. on temporary status. But that may be in jeopardy under a new Trump administration’s mass deportation scheme.
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The American Civil Liberties Union is dropping its bid to block enforcement of a new law that lets state and local police arrest some border crossers. -
ICE’s policy, issued in February 2025, says the agency will expeditiously review body camera footage in the event of serious harm of deaths in custody, and could release it within 72 hours — but only if it's determined that it’s “in the best interests of the agency” to do so. -
Leadership clarified that non-members — including employees or residents, guests of tribal members, travelers on public roadways and vendors tied to the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise — may still travel freely “without any restrictions.” -
Since last year, the Trump administration has awarded billions of dollars in construction contracts for its so-called Smart Wall, and work has been ongoing for months in various parts of Arizona. -
The ruling comes a day after news broke of the government’s plan to offer legal aid to detained immigrant children through a $150 million contract Burke Law Group — a small Texas-based firm with a co-founder who is a former Trump appointee.
