Trump Administration Lawyer Can’t Work On Child Reunifications Due To Dog-Sitting Duties

A Donald Trump administration lawyer, Department of Justice attorney Sarah Fabian, claimed at a hearing on Friday that she’s too busy dog-sitting to represent the government in court on the weekend, while thousands of undocumented immigrant children sit in federal custody waiting to be reunited with their parents ahead of a court-ordered July 10 deadline.

Friday’s hearing was the latest in an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit over the administration’s policy of separating families. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw had mandated in a June 26 ruling that the government reunite children younger than 5 with their parents within 14 days and children older than 5 within 30 days. The deadline for that younger group is coming up next week and the government said it will not be able to meet it.

When lawyers were asked where they would be over the weekend, the government attorney reportedly told Sabraw that she would “have to leave” San Diego for Colorado to dog-sit, and could not meet on Saturday to give an update in person, according to NBC News.

Judge Sabraw agreed to meet Monday and said that she was prepared to grant additional time if the government could provide a master list of the children under 5 who had been separated from their parents with information on the whereabouts of their parents and any difficulties they may have in locating them.

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According to CNN, attorney Fabian said that the government had identified 101 children younger than 5 who might fall within the judge’s order. Eighty-three kids have been linked to 86 parents but 19 of those parents have already been removed from the United States. Roughly 16 of those 101 children have not had contact with their parents at all. They may be missing following deportations or release into the United States.

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Article by Steven Abendroth