Child separation: More than 2,500 children to be reunited with migrant parents after Trump administration settles case

Latin American minors had been provisionally granted refugee status before government axed programme

Central American migrants walk along the Mexican bank of the Rio Bravo that divides the cities of Eagle Pass, in Texas, US and Piedras Negras, in the state of Coahuila, Mexico on February 17, 2019. Debates over the US border wall are the newest issue to plague Hispanic immigrants hoping to live in the US (AFP/Getty Images)

About 2,700 children in Latin America are to be reunited with their migrant parents in the US following a court settlement.

The agreement follows a lawsuit challenging a 2017 decision by Donald Trump's administration to shut down an Obama-era programme that allowed migrant parents living legally in the US to request refugee status for their children.

In axing the programme, the government blocked 2,700 minors from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras who had already been conditionally approved as refugees from being reunited with their families.

Many of the parents are in the US with so-called temporary protected status, which allows immigrants from countries that have suffered natural disasters, civil conflicts or other problems to stay in the United States.

Magistrate Laurel Beeler in San Francisco ordered the government to resume processing children who had been conditionally approved for the programme when it was terminated by the Trump administration.

The settlement, which must be approved by a judge, requires the government to finish processing children who were in the final stages of their applications when the program was ended, said the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), which represented 12 of the families.

Irap said the government anticipated most applicants will be approved and allowed to travel to the United States.

“We are so pleased that after many years apart our clients will finally have the opportunity to reunite with each other in safety,” lawyer Linda Evarts said.

“These families belong together here in the United States, and we are hopeful this settlement will allow for their swift reunification,” she added.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, which signed the settlement, and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Additional reporting by agencies