Judge Orders Return of Immigrant Families Deported Under Questionable Means

On February 6, 2026, a federal judge issued an order to the Trump administration to return three immigrant families to the United States. This decision came after it was revealed that federal immigration agents employed deceptive tactics to deport them. U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw asserted that these families had initially been separated at the southern border during the first Trump administration’s implementation of the ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy.

These families were intended to be safeguarded by a 2023 settlement agreement providing temporary legal status and a path to reunification. However, last summer they were deported in a manner that Judge Sabraw described as rendering the settlement protections ‘illusory.’

The manner in which each of these removals was affected, in addition to being unlawful, involved lies, deception, and coercion, Sabraw stated in an eight-page ruling.

In previous legal arguments, the government claimed the court had no jurisdiction to mandate the return of these families. Additionally, it was contended that some families, including one with valid parole, left the United States ‘voluntarily.’ Nevertheless, findings concluded a different narrative.

One specific case detailed involved a mother separated from her 5-year-old daughter in 2018. Immigration officials allegedly told her last year that her legal status was irrelevant. Instructed to bring her children and their passports to a routine check-in, she was threatened that non-compliance would result in her children being placed in foster care or put up for adoption.

Ultimately, the family, which included a 6-year-old U.S. citizen child, was detained in a motel for three days before being deported to Honduras. The mother reportedly expressed feelings of despair, stating she felt unable to survive under these deteriorating conditions during a check-in in July 2025.

Judge Sabraw’s order mandates that the government must cover the expenses for returning these families to the United States. She emphasized that without these unlawful removals, the families would have remained in the country with access to the benefits outlined in the Settlement Agreement.

A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security did not provide an immediate response when approached by ABC News for comment.