Hanen, a judge for the Southern District of Texas in Brownsville, had seen the situation before. “This is the fourth case with the same factual situation this court has had in as many weeks,” he wrote. “In all of the cases, human traffickers who smuggled minor children were apprehended short of delivering the children to their ultimate destination. In all cases, a parent, if not both parents, of the children was in this country illegally. That parent initiated the conspiracy to smuggle the minors into the country illegally. He or she also funded the conspiracy. In each case, the DHS completed the criminal conspiracy, instead of enforcing the laws of the United States, by delivering the minors to the custody of the parent illegally living in the United States.”

Hanen asked DHS to explain its actions. Officials pointed to an agreement stemming from a 1997 Supreme Court case, Reno v. Flores, that requires the government to release minor children to family members, often family members living abroad. The answer did not satisfy Hanen, who noted there is nothing in the law preventing authorities from taking legal action when those family members are here illegally, especially when they engage in more illegal conduct.