海角大神

After months of separating migrant families at the southern border, the Trump administration was under a federal court order to undo the damage by today.聽

But for Elizabeth Caballero, a lawyer in San Antonio, Thursday's deadline came too late. Her client, a Honduran father separated at the border from his five-year-old daughter, has already been deported without her being alerted, she found out last week. That was a shock to her, a first for her immigration practice, and another sign of just how much the ground for immigration rights has shifted under the Trump administration.聽

Rafael, whose name has been changed to protect his privacy, is one of 463 parents who have been deported from the US without their children. When Ms. Caballero first met him early last month, he said his priority was reuniting with his daughter, even if that meant being sent home.聽

At their third meeting early this month Rafael told Caballero his daughter had been released to his sister. Over the next few weeks she would call the detention center where he was being held, but he never called back. Then he was gone 鈥� sent back to Honduras.

鈥淭o hear nothing from this father who wanted to be with his little girl...and then he鈥檚 gone, is just 鈥� it鈥檚 odd,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just out of the norm for us, and I鈥檝e been doing this for more than 10 years now.鈥�

"I think we鈥檝e stepped into a new era and I can鈥檛 get used to it.鈥�

John Minchillo/AP

Edvin Cazun, of Guatemala, hugs his son Samuel at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky., July 23, 2018, as they reunite after being separated about a month ago at the southern border after they crossed the Rio Grande into the United States. Edvin said they were separated at the "detention" and he spent 15 days without knowing anything about his son.

While hundreds of families have been reunited this week, many more are still waiting. The administration has said it needs more time to comply with US District Judge Dana Sabraw鈥檚 order to release 2,551 migrant children ages 5 and up to their parents or other guardians. So far, more than 1,000 families have been reunited.聽

The administration has said that 130 parents had waived their right to reunification; the American Civil Liberties Union argues some didn鈥檛 understand what they agreed to. In other cases, officials said they either couldn't track down parents or had judged it wasn't safe for the child to be returned to their custody.聽

Judge Sabraw said the government should be commended for its efforts to reunite families, but was needed to complete the process, CNN reported.聽

"It's the reality of the case, it's the reality of a policy that was in place that resulted in large numbers of families being separated without forethought as to reunification and keeping track of people. And that's the fallout we're seeing. There may be 463, there may be more, it's not certain, but it appears there's a large number of parents who are unaccounted for or who may have been removed without their child," Sabraw said on Tuesday.聽

Indeed, the chaos and confusion of the past two months over family separations have only accentuated what immigration attorneys say has been a general increase in hostility from the government in immigration matters. Whether it鈥檚 opposing routine court motions, demanding higher bond payments, not complying with court orders, or just a general rudeness in court, there has been a dramatic shift in how immigration cases are being litigated, lawyers say.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e just opposing [more], and there鈥檚 not a legal reason, it鈥檚 just political,鈥� says Eduardo Flores, another immigration attorney in San Antonio.

Side-room negotiations and agreements with Obama-era federal agencies had been helpful in making a notoriously backlogged immigration court system run a little more smoothly. To free up more court time, participants agreed not to litigate minor issues, such as co-signing a plaintiff鈥檚 application for a green card while their removal proceeding was under way.

Since the Trump administration came in, those kinds of negotiations and agreements have been replaced by stone walls; plaintiffs are spending longer in detention as arguments wait for a judge to hold hearings.

鈥淭hese are people, they鈥檙e not inanimate objects,鈥� Mr. Flores says. 鈥淭hey want to go to school, they want to work, support their families.鈥�

'Like we were criminals'

For some families, Thursday's deadline did bring relief.聽

A second-floor conference room at the Catholic Charities of San Antonio's office serves as an intake room for reunited migrants.聽Case workers flip through papers behind rows of chairs and racks of donated clothes; the movie 鈥淭rolls鈥� plays silently, with Spanish subtitles, on a screen at the back.聽

In two chairs near the back, Sandra Elizabeth Sanchez leans close to Christhel, her 15-year-old daughter. They had been arrested after crossing the Rio Grande and separated on June 18, three days after Christhel鈥檚 birthday. It had been her 辩耻颈苍肠别补帽别谤补, and her mother bought a cake to celebrate.聽

Reunited last night, this morning they were both wiping tears from their eyes and recalling their month apart.

鈥淭hey handcuffed us in chains, like we were criminals,鈥� says Sandra, who wears an ankle monitor. 鈥淚t was freezing鈥� in one of the several facilities she was detained in, and 鈥渢hey left the lights on, so we didn鈥檛 know when it was day or when it was night.鈥�

She says they now plan to travel to Washington state where she has another daughter and three grandchildren.

How things got done before

Caballero remembers when the process was less adversarial, how easy it was to be friends with opposing attorneys, to be on first-name terms with judges, who knew all about her three children. It was how things got done, she thought, not by fighting every point so that judges and federal officials dig in their heels.

鈥淣ow it鈥檚 not that,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 way more aggressive than ever before, because that鈥檚 the only way I think that my client is going to be protected.鈥�

Could she have done more to protect Rafael? Should she had pushed harder to advance his asylum claim? The thought nags at her. 鈥淚 just feel like maybe we didn鈥檛 do enough,鈥� she says.

For now she鈥檚 still hoping he calls.聽

While the latest reunification deadline was today, the issue of the 463 parents deported without their children is almost certain to be litigated further, says Mark Greenberg, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington.聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 still going to be a set of questions as to where the government goes next after these reunifications,鈥� he says. This could include litigation on behalf of deported parents like Rafael so that they are afforded the same rights to be with their children.聽

For Caballero, a silver lining is that Rafael鈥檚 daughter has been released and can now pursue her own asylum claim.

鈥淪he鈥檚 not with him, but she鈥檚 not detained, so that鈥檚 鈥� I鈥檓 OK with that,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 glad that she鈥檚 out. That鈥檚 what he wanted.鈥�