Judge to weigh new rules as U.S. works to reunite migrant families

FILE PHOTO: Isabela, an asylum seeker from El Salvador, hugs her 17-year-old daughter Dayana outside of Casa Esperanza, a federal contracted shelter in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., shortly after being reunited with her following their separation at the U.S.-Mexico border, July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday will consider imposing tougher rules on the U.S. government to ensure it reunites as many as 2,000 immigrant children with their parents by July 26.

In a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, U.S. Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego ordered the government in June to reunite families that had been separated after crossing the U.S.-Mexican border. The government failed to meet a Tuesday deadline for reuniting an initial group of children under 5.