President Donald Trump on Monday touted the praise his administration received from U.S. District Judge Dana Sabaw for returning 1,900 kids to their parents.
Sabaw said the government gets "great credit" for reunifying more than 1,800 children 5 and over with parents or sponsors by Thursday's court-imposed deadline, but at the same time, the judge blamed Trump administration officials for deporting 431 parents, resulting in kids being stranded in U.S. custody.
"The government is at fault for losing several hundred parents in the process, and that's where we go next," the judge said.
Sabaw in late June gave the Trump administration 14 days to reunify children under 5 and 30 days to reunite children 5 and older with their families.
"Each [department] was like its own stovepipe, each had its own boss, and they did not communicate," he said. "What was lost in the process was the family."