Biden rescinds 'zero tolerance' policy but judge blocks halt to deportations

Administration reverses Trump policy but Texas secures restraining order over 100-day pause on deportations

In mixed fortunes for Joe Biden's efforts to roll back Donald Trump's hardline immigration policies, the government rescinded the Trump-era zero tolerance" policy that resulted in thousands of family separations at the US-Mexico border while, in a federal court, a judge blocked the new president's 100-day moratorium on deportations.

Acting US attorney general Monty Wilkinson issued the new Department of Justice memo to federal prosecutors across the nation, saying the administration would return to its longstanding previous policy and instructing prosecutors to act on the merits of individual cases where migrants have crossed into the US unlawfully.