I gave them the entire day. Now, the president* is in Europe, and, while I know that this is an indelicate—nay, an uncivil—question, I have to ask why nobody is not in jail yet behind this? From The New York Daily News:

Federal San Diego Judge Dana Sabraw initially gave the government a July 10 deadline to reunite the 102 children under the age of 5 who were ripped from their undocumented parents because of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. Sabraw allowed the Trump administration an extension on that deadline Monday after Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian said she only expected about half of the kids to be reconnected with their parents. But, in a court filing Tuesday, Fabian revealed that a mere four of the 102 children under 5 had been reunified with their parents, adding she expected another 34 to be reunited by the end of the day. If accurate, that brings the total number of reunified kids to 38 — which amounts to just above one-third of all the children.

Fabian maintained in the court papers the government is in “compliance with the Court’s order,” even though it blew Sabraw’s initial deadline and didn’t live up to its subsequent promises. The American Civil Liberties Union — which successfully argued last month the Trump administration must reunite the separated migrant families — called bull. “Plaintiffs recognize that Defendants cannot yet reunify the parents who are currently being held in criminal custody,” ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt wrote in a response filing. “But as to all other Class Members with children under five, the government is not in compliance with the clear deadline ordered by the Court.”

Try this sometime. You’re in court and the judge gives you a deadline to do something by Day X. Then, when Day X arrives, tell the judge that you’ve only been able to do four percent of what the judge demanded that you do. See where you’re eating dinner that night.

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This whole thing is preposterous now. The administration* never had a plan to do anything except separate these families and hold the children hostage. It certainly had no plan to reunite the children with their parents. As far as I can tell, it had no plan beyond the phrase, “zero-tolerance.” Now, it’s trying to cobble a policy together as fast as it’s trying to cobble together facilities in which to warehouse terrified toddlers. And all it’s got left is a president* who believes that he doesn’t have to listen to people like federal judges. From the WaPo:

“Well,” he replied, “I have a solution: Tell people not to come to our country illegally. That’s the solution. Don’t come to our country illegally. Come like other people do — come legally…Is that what you’re saying…I’m saying this: We have laws. We have borders…Don’t come to our country illegally. It’s not a good thing…Without borders, you do not have a country.”

Nice kid you have there. Be a shame if you never saw them again.

This is barely organized crime.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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