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A judge has blocked Donald Trump from splitting immigrant children from their parents and given his administration 30 days to reunite separated families.

Judge Dana Sabraw also ordered the government to return children under the age of five to their parents within 14 days and let kids talk with their families within 10 days.

It is a temporary order from the San Diego district court on Tuesday, issued in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union against the separations.

But it will not be the final word on a heated battle over the treatment of immigrant families who cross the US-Mexico border illegally as the government is likely to appeal.

(Image: AFP) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: AFP) (Image: AFP)

More than 2,300 migrant children were separated from their parents as a result of Trump's "zero tolerance" policy that began in early May.

The administration sought to prosecute all adults crossing the border without authorisation, including those traveling with children.

(Image: Getty Images North America) (Image: Getty Images North America) (Image: Getty Images North America) (Image: Getty Images North America)

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The separations sparked widespread condemnation in the United States, including from within the President's own Republican Party, and abroad.

Although Trump issued an executive order on June 20 to end the family separations, the ACLU said it contained "loopholes" and did little to fix the problem. Some 2,000 children remain separated.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: REX/Shutterstock) (Image: Getty) (Image: Getty Images North America)

Sabraw, an appointee of former Republican President George W. Bush, rebuked the administration.

"The facts set forth before the court portray reactive governance responses to address a chaotic circumstance of the government's own making," he wrote.

"They belie measured and ordered governance, which is central to the concept of due process enshrined in our Constitution."

The White House is yet to comment.