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A4 U.S. NEWS
Saturday 24 OctOber 2020
Judge urges U.S. to help find parents deported without kids

By JULIE WATSON has passed, he said.
Associated Press Coronavirus restrictions pre-
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A feder- vented researchers from
al judge on Thursday urged going into many areas from
the Trump administration March until August, but as
to do more to help court- those measures ease up,
appointed researchers find researchers hope to make
hundreds of parents who more progress in coming
were separated from their weeks.
children after they crossed U.S. authorities have pro-
the U.S.-Mexico border be- vided telephone num-
ginning in 2017. bers for 1,030 children to a
A court filing revealed this court-appointed steering
week that researchers have committee, which tracked
been unable to track down down the parents of 485 of
the parents of 545 children those children.
— a number much larger The committee has ad-
than previously known and In this Dec. 11, 2018, file photo, an asylum-seeking boy from Central America runs down a hallway vertised toll-free phone
that drew outcry. Most of after arriving from an immigration detention center to a shelter in San Diego. numbers in Spanish on bill-
the parents were deport- Associated Press boards and other places in
ed to their Central Ameri- dren have been underway were taken from their par- tention, U.S. officials were Central America to reach
can homelands, and their since Sabraw ordered the ents going back to summer not interested in looking for families.
children were placed with government in 2018 to end 2017, including the 545 kids the parents, he said, but Volunteers have searched
sponsors in the U.S., often the much-criticized prac- who are still separated. that changed when outcry for their parents by going
relatives. tice under its "zero toler- Attorney Lee Gelernt of spread about the number door to door in Guatemala
U.S. District Judge Dana Sa- ance" policy for people the American Civil Liberties of parents deported with- and Honduras and comb-
braw refrained from issuing who cross the border ille- Union, which sued over the out their children. ing public records, the
an order during a hearing gally. practice, said the govern- "In light of the backlash, the ACLU said in a court filing.
in San Diego and instead Sabraw initially ordered ment could provide fund- government is now claim- The judge called for an up-
asked Justice Department the government to reunite ing for the search, which ing it wants to assist us in date on Dec. 2 and set an-
attorneys to explore ways more than 2,700 children now is being conducted by finding these families," Gel- other hearing for Dec. 4 to
the administration can with their families, believing a handful of human rights ernt said. discuss the progress.
make it easier to find the that to be the total number defenders in Central Amer- The administration's foot- "This, of course, is the most
parents. who were separated. But ica. dragging has made it even significant piece remain-
Attempts to find families it was later discovered an When the issue was origi- tougher to find the parents ing" in terms of the family
separated from their chil- additional 1,556 children nally brought to their at- because of how much time separations, Sabraw said.q

Self-driving shuttle debuts in high-traffic Virginia spot

tle in Virginia, officials said. The shuttle is starting off operates, the shuttle will
Similar pilot projects are small: While it seats six, only stop. He then steps in and
up and running in different three will be allowed at any uses a joystick to navigate
places across the country, one time because of the around the parked car so it
but what makes the Relay coronavirus unless they are continue on its way.
shuttle somewhat unique is all members of the same And the shuttle's slow
the environment in which family. It will run only from speed does produce agi-
it will operate. While some 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday tation from motorists stuck
projects are limited to col- through Thursday, and its behind it, said Carney, who
lege campuses or oper- speed won't exceed 10 will occasionally deal with
ate in dedicated lanes, mph (16 kph) , even though glares or worse from fed-up
this shuttle will mix with real it will run on roads with 25 drivers who decide to go
traffic in a particularly busy mph (40 kph) limits. around the shuttle.
section of Fairfax County. The shuttles do indeed drive "I just shrug like, 'I don't
"This is not a one-off, not a themselves, but safety op- know what you want me to
People look at Relay, an electric autonomous vehicle, in Fairfax, demonstration in a parking erators are on board and do about it,'" Carney said.
Va., Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. lot," said Kathy McGhee, can override the shuttle's "It's sort of out of my hands."
Associated Press director of transportation autonomous features. County leaders said they're
By MATTHEW BARAKAT rides back and forth from research and innovation in Daniel Carney — a safe- happy to be at the fore-
Associated Press the Dunn Loring Metrorail the state transportation de- ty operator for Transdev, front of an emerging tech-
MERRIFIELD, Va. (AP) — The stop to the bustling Mosaic partment. which runs the shuttles — nology, but that the shuttle
future of transportation ar- District in Fairfax County. She said the project will estimated that during test- also fills a real need of "last
rived in northern Virginia, The shuttle is "the sort of provide valuable data on ing he had to override the mile" transportation, con-
looking like a big blue toast- thing we'd see in a Star basic functions like the ve- controls about once for necting a busy Metrorail
er on wheels that seats six Wars or a Blade Runner hicle's battery life in a real every 2-mile roundtrip loop. site with a retail district that
and drives itself through the movie, without the verti- working environment, the The most common issue is is about a mile away, a little
region's notorious traffic. cal liftoff," said Mark Webb, cost of the electricity need- the shuttle's inability to steer farther than most are willing
State and local officials chief innovation officer at ed to fuel the vehicle, and itself around obstacles. to walk.
debuted the Relay system Dominion Energy, a partner how the shuttles operate in For example, Carney said The project is funded with a
Thursday, an all-electric, in the project. an environment studded that if people do a poor $200,000 state grant and a
autonomous vehicle that It is the first publicly funded with cars, pedestrians and job parallel parking on the $50,000 match from Fairfax
will provide free shuttle electric, autonomous shut- traffic lights. side streets on which Relay County.q