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The order, issued Thursday, found the deported families should have been allowed to remain in the United Statesunder terms of a legal settlementover the Trump administration's separation of about 6,000 children from their parents at the border in 2018. Each mother had permission to remain in the U.S. until 2027 under humanitarian parole.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego said the administration also had to pay for their return travel costs.

One woman and her three children, including a 6-year-old U.S. citizen, were deported to Honduras in July after being ordered to check in with ICE at least 11 times over two months, which, she said, caused her to lose her job.

Sabraw rejected the government's argument that the family left the U.S. voluntarily. The woman said ICE officers visited her home and asked her sign a document agreeing to leave but she refused.

"This did not make any difference to these officers. They took me and my children to a motel and removed my ankle monitor. They detained us for three days and then removed us to Honduras," the woman said in court documents.

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The other two families, identified only by their initials, bore similarities.

"Each of the removals was unlawful, and absent the removals, these families would still be in the United States and have access to the benefits and resources they are entitled to," wrote Sabraw, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.

Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who represents the families, welcomed the decision.

"The Trump administration has never acknowledged the illegality or gratuitous cruelty of the initial family separation policy and now has started re-deporting and re-separating these same families. The Court put its foot down and not only ordered the families return but did so at government expense," he said.

The Homeland Security and Justice departments did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday.

Under a "zero-tolerance" policy, parents were separated from their children to be criminally prosecuted when crossing the border illegally. Sabraw ordered an end to the separations in June 2018, days after Trump halted them on his own amid intense international backlash. The settlement prohibits such a policy until 2031.

"Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly. We have to see what that deal is," the president said aboard Air Force One.

Friday's meetings in the Gulf Arab state were the first round of negotiations between the two sides since the US and Israel struck the Islamic Republiclast summer.

Both parties have since agreed to hold follow-on discussions after consultations with their capitals, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said that another round of negotiations will be held again "early next week," but Araghchi said no date had yet been set for the future talks.

The talks took place amid an American military buildup in the Middle East, and after Trump threatened to strike Iran if itused lethal force against protestersor refuses to sign a nuclear deal.

Ahead of the talks, Iran's foreign minister said his country "enters diplomacy with open eyes and a steady memory of the past year," and after negotiations concluded, Araghchi described it as a "good start."

Still, sharp language has persisted on both sides, with Trump saying on Thursday that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "should be very worried," and a day after the high-stakes negotiation, Iran's foreign minister reiterated that Iran would attack regional US bases should Washington carry out its threat of striking the Islamic Republic.

And despite what he said were productive discussions, Trump said Friday a "big fleet" was heading towards Iran and would be arriving soon.

Here's what we know about the talks.

Who is involved?

Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff took part in the talks, along with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. The talks were indirect – mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who earlier on Friday met with each of the parties separately.

Despite negotiations being indirect, Araghchi said he had direct contact with the US delegation and that the parties exchanged a handshake, Al Jazeera reported. It's unclear for how long both parties met directly.

In photos released by the state-run Oman News Agency, the commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, was also seen attending the meetings.

Negotiations are meant to ⁠adopt a format similar to previous rounds, Iranian media said. Before the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, Tehran and Washingtonhad gone through five rounds of negotiations, where Omani mediators shuttled between US and Iranian delegations.

Those talks effectively came to an end after Israel struck Iranian nuclear and military sites in mid-June, after which the US struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.

What was discussed?

Araghchi presented to his Omani counterpart a "preliminary plan" to "manage the current situation" between Iran and the US, Iranian media reported, in a bid to advance negotiations. On Saturday, Iran's top diplomat told Al Jazeera that talks with the US revolved solely around Iran's nuclear program with no discussions held over Tehran's ballistic missiles or regional proxies.

Albusaidi then conveyed the plan to the US delegation led by Witkoff, and the American response will be delivered to the Iranian side during the talks, Iranian media added.

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The scope of the talks was unclear. Before the meetings, Iranian officials insisted they only wanted to discuss issues related to the nuclear program, and that other matters such as Iran's ballistic missile program, proxies across the region and domestic unrest were off-limits.

The US had demanded a broader set of discussions that includes ballistic missiles, Tehran's armed proxies that remain a danger to US and Israeli interests in the region, and Iran's recent brutal crackdown on protests.

On the nuclear issue, a key point of contention remains Iran's demand to enrich uranium – a nuclear fuel that can be used to make a bomb if purified to high levels – which the US and its allies reject. Iran has offered to place checks on its nuclear program to ensure that it isn't weaponized, demanding the lifting of sanctions in return.

A day after the negotiation on Saturday, Araghchi told Al Jazeera that his country will not accept completely halting its nuclear enrichment.

After the talks ended on Friday, in a sign that the US wants to keep up economic pressure, it rolled out new sanctions on Iranian oil and 14 vessels carrying it.

"Instead of investing in the welfare of its own people and crumbling infrastructure, the Iranian regime continues to fund destabilizing activities around the world and step up its repression inside Iran," said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott.

What's at stake?

The US moved military assets, including the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, closer to the Middle East, raising concerns that prospects of war were growing.

Trump said last month that the US had"an armada"moving toward Iran "just in case," adding that while he would rather not "see anything happen," his administration is watching Iran "very closely."

The talks gave rise to hopes that a full-blown war may be averted. However, Trump on Friday said a "big fleet" will be arriving in the region soon.

Regional countries have been attempting to de-escalate and deter Trump from launching an attack on Iran, knowing that a new war will only plunge the region into crisis.

Tehran has made it clear that any US attack will not be met with the same "restraint" it showed last summer after Israel and the US struck the country.

Iran has a number of tools at its disposal should war break out with the US or Israel. It is believed to have thousands of missiles and drones that could target US troops and assets in the Middle East.

When US bombers struck Iranian nuclear facilities in the summer, Iran launched an unprecedented missile strike in Qatar, targeting al-Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the Middle East.

Iran could also mobilize a vast network of proxies across the region, potentially hitting Israel and US bases, and disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which more than a fifth of the world's oil and a large share of its liquefied natural gas flow. This could send shock waves around the world.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen, Samantha Waldenberg, Lex Harvey, Jessie Yeung, Jennifer Hansler, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Todd Symons contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

Then gunfire rang out, audible in the video she was taking on her phone.

"Don't be afraid," she screamed repeatedly, her voice breaking. The crowd joined at the top of their lungs: "Don't be afraid. We are all together."

"Are they using live bullets?" she cried out. "Shameless! Shameless!" Others joined in the chant, along with cries of "Death to the dictator!"

It was a moment of collective boldness on Jan. 8, the nighthundreds of thousands of Iranians across the countrytook to the streets against the cleric-led theocracy that has ruled for nearly 50 years. But after the bloodshed of that night, the beautician, like countless others, has retreated into terrified isolation. She moved in with her mother, afraid to be alone, and has huddled there, anxious and unable to sleep.

A blanket of fear has settled over Iran, she said, and a sense of grief and quiet rage has taken over.

"When you look at people in the street, it feels like you are seeing walking corpses, people with no hope left to continue living," she said in a text message in late January.

Her videos and messages provide a raw account of the exuberance that protesters felt taking to the streets last month — and theshock that has paralyzed manyafter thebloodiest crackdownever inflicted by the Islamic Republic. The beautician expressed despair that change can happen anda sense of abandonment by the world.

She saw little hope in Iran-U.S. nuclear talks that were held Friday even as they trade warnings of war. She feared Iran's leaders will outlast Trump's pressure and "become entrenched and all those people who died will have died in vain," she wrote.

Monitoring groups say at least 6,854 were killed, most on Jan. 8 and 9, but they say the full number could be triple that. The clampdown since has also been unprecedented.A monthlong internet blackouthas hidden the full extent of what happened, even as more than 50,000 people have been reported detained.

The Associated Press received more than a dozen videos as well as text messages the beautician sent to a relative of hers in Los Angeles during sporadic openings in the internet shutdown. The beautician gave permission for the material to be shared.

The AP is withholding the names of the beautician and her relative for their security. The AP verified the location and authenticity of her videos, which corresponded with known features of the area around Samandehi Park in Karaj. The AP could not verify all details in her account, but it broadly conforms with accounts from other protesters documented by the AP and rights groups.

Taking to the streets

The beautician struggled in Iran's economy, crippled by decades of corruption and mismanagement and international sanctions. With jobs hard to find, she chose to work for herself as a nail technician, believing she could make a better living,said the relative,who has long been close to her and was in frequent contact even before the protests.

She gave up on having a family or children, the relative said. Everything was too expensive, and it was too repressive in Iran to bring up kids.

She had little faith in Iranian politicians claiming to be moderates and reformers, the relative said. But she joined protests. The power of a popular movement fueled her sense that change in Iran was possible.

She participated in the 2022 protests ignited bythe death of Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested for not wearing her headscarf to the liking of authorities. But she was disillusioned by the violence that followed. Over 500 were believed killed and over 22,000 detained.

Her desire changed "from saving her country to saving herself," the relative said. Her family looked for opportunities for her to leave Iran, but they never materialized.

When protests triggered by the plunging value of Iran's currencybegan in late December, she didn't take part at first.

But when she found she could hardly even afford cooking oil, it was the last straw. She told her relative that she made the equivalent of only $40 in December, down from an already paltry $300-$400 average for the past year.

On Jan. 8, she made plans with her friends to join the protests.

Iranians poured into the streets on Jan. 8

That night, Iranians poured into the streets of at least 192 cities across Iran's 31 provinces, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. These were quite possibly the biggest anti-government rallies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The diversity of the crowds across social and economic classes was greater than past marches.

The beautician's videos show protesters filling a main boulevard in Karaj. Their confidence bolstered by their numbers, they walk unhurriedly among the trees. Women, men and children chant, "Death to Khamenei," referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Some chanted in support of theexiled crown princeReza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah, who had called for the public to turn out. Some set up bonfires and formed protest circles around them.

It is not clear from her videos how the violence began.

One video shows protesters lined up outside a police station, cheering, while a fire burned inside.

From inside the station, police fired tear gas and shotgun pellets, the beautician said in a message. Live ammunition quickly followed.

The beautician wrote to her relative that she saw nearly 20 people shot in her immediate circle. The parents of a family friend were shot and killed as they tried to help a wounded person. Another friend's father was killed, and authorities later made his daughter pay the equivalent of $4,500 to release his body.

In one video, a group huddled over a wounded protester, her leg covered in blood. They frantically looked for a way to stop the bleeding.

"Do you have a scarf? A headscarf, anything?" one person shouted. Another said: "We can't go to the hospital," apparently out of fear of being detained. Another interjected, in a panic: "Tie it tight and fasten it."

The government has put the death toll from the wave of nationwide protestsat more than 3,000, and Khamenei has denounced them as "a coup."

'We are all in mourning'

The next night, rights groups say shooting continued in Karaj, with snipers on rooftops and more dead. The beautician stepped out of the house but quickly returned, filming nothing, her relative said.

She has hardly left since.

"We have seen so many horrific scenes of people being killed before our eyes that we are now afraid to leave our homes," she wrote in a message.

She fears security agents will come to her building, she wrote. She and her neighbors agreed not to let in anyone who rings the bells.

She takes tranquilizers "but I don't truly sleep," she wrote. "Everyone I talk to says they cannot sleep at night, stressed that at any moment they might come and attack our homes."

One night in late January, she went out briefly to withdraw money from the bank sent by her relative. But the bank had no cash.

Over all the years of repression, "we always kept going, strong," she wrote.

Not this time.

"We are all in mourning, filled with anger that we no longer even dare to shout out, for fear of our lives. Because they have no mercy."

Joe Scarnici/Getty; Michael Reaves/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

• Skiers Chris Lillis and Hunter Hess talked about the "mixed emotions" that come with representing the U.S. amid political turmoil at the 2026 Winter Olympics

• Lillis said he's "heartbroken" by what's happening in the U.S.

• Anti-ICE protestors staged a rally in Milan on Feb. 6

Two Team USA athletes are speaking out about what it means to them to represent their country before the rest of the world amid a season of political turmoil at home.

While several athletes skirted around the question of politics with diplomatic answers about representing personal values at the2026 Winter Olympics, freestyle skiers Chris Lillis and Hunter Hess acknowledged that wearing red, white and blue at this point in history comes with mixed emotions during apress conferenceon Friday, Feb. 6.

Lillis, 27, said that he loves the United States and "would never want to represent" any other country at the Games. Still, he acknowledged that he's "heartbroken" over what's happening in the U.S. amid President Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown.

"A lot of times, athletes are hesitant to talk about political views and how we feel about things. I feel heartbroken about what's happening in the United States," he said. "I'm pretty sure you're referencing ICE and some of the protests and things like that. I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody's rights and making sure that we're treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect."

Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty

He continued, "I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that that's the America that we're trying to represent."

Hess, meanwhile, said it "brings up mixed emotions" to represent the United States at the 2026 Games.

"It's a little hard. There's obviously a lot going on that I'm not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren't," the skier, 27, said. "I think for me, it's more I'm representing my friends and family back home… all the things that I believe are good about the United States."

Hess noted that "just because I wear the flag, it doesn't mean I represent everything that is going on in the U.S."

"I just kind of want to do it for my friends and my family and the people that support me getting here," he said.

The immigration conversation in the U.S. has become heated in recent months, especially after the shooting deaths ofRenee GoodandAlexi Prettiby federal agents in Minnesota.

ICE tactics — including the nearly two-weekdetainment of a 5-year-old boy— have drawn outrage from some, prompting protests nationwide and abroad. Citizens of Milan, the main home of the 2026 Winter Olympics, staged an anti-ICE protest on Friday, Feb. 6, while Vice President JD Vance's appearance at the opening ceremony later that dayprompted boos from the crowdwhen he was shown on screen at the stadium.

To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come topeople.comto check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.

Read the original article onPeople

Sound familiar?

That's not just Lindsey Vonn, the downhill ski racer. It's also Elana Meyers Taylor, the 41-year-old bobsledder who took a spill during a practice run in early January. And Kaillie Humphries, the 40-year-old bobsledder, she knows about aches and pains, too.

Determination and struggle are part of what bind these members of Team USA.

Vonn, Taylor and Humphries have extended their Olympic careers beyond the normal threshold for world-class athletes, and now they'll get a chance to shine at the Milano Cortina Games.

"I think I'm proving to the world that a woman at 41 can do anything they set their mind to," Vonn said.

That was before she ruptured the ACL in her left knee Jan. 30 in the World Cup downhill in Crans-Montana. What's happening now helps shed light on what sets these women apart from the pack.

Opinion:Lindsey Vonn believes in herself. About time everyone else does, too

'I kept pushing'

Chronic injuries led Vonn to retire in February 2019. Her comeback did not begin in earnest until after she had partial knee replacement surgery on her left leg in April 2024.

That November, she announced she was coming out of retirement.

"I kept pushing myself further and further to see what I was capable of, and skiing and racing seemed like the logical next step," Vonn said in October at the Team USA Media Summit in New York. "And, yeah, when I decided to start racing again, I kind of had (the Olympics) as a possibility."

Lindsey Vonn reacts after crashing as she competes in the women's downhill race part of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2025-2026, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, on Jan. 30, 2026.
Vonn is expected to be one of the biggest stars at the Milano Cortina Olympics, The 2010 Olympic downhill champion retired in 2019 because of the physical toll of her many injuries. After a partial replacement of her right knee in April 2024, she decided to make a comeback, returning to the World Cup circuit in December 2024. Look back on some of her toughest crashes and her resilient spirit.

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Lindsey Vonn's most dramatic crashes and her relentless spirit

Lindsey Vonnreacts after crashing as she competes in the women's downhill race part of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2025-2026, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, on Jan. 30, 2026.Vonn is expected to be one of the biggest stars at theMilano Cortina Olympics, The 2010 Olympic downhill champion retired in 2019 because of the physical toll of her many injuries. After a partial replacement of her right knee in April 2024, she decided to make a comeback, returning to the World Cup circuit in December 2024. Look back on some of her toughest crashes and her resilient spirit.

She's not doing this on her own, of course.

Vonn's coach is Aksel Lund Svindal, the retired Norwegian skier who won two Olympic golds, a silver and a bronze. Her trainer is Peter Meliessnig, who worked Anna Veith, the retired Austrian skier who won an Olympic gold, silver and bronze.

In December, Vonn told reporters she had gained 12 pounds over the summer.

"Physically I'm in possibly the best shape I've ever been in," Vonn said at a news conference in the Swiss resort, according to the Associated Press. "And my body doesn't hurt, so that's the best part of all."

About two months earlier, at the Team USA Media Summit, Vonn said her training regimen was different because of "more knowledge."

"The way we train now is so much different than when I started my career," she said. "From the training, to also diet and recovery and how we approach all of those things.

"I feel like I can recover faster because of those things. I'm training a lot smarter. I used to overtrain when I was younger. I would do three sessions a day, which now looking back seems completely insane and unnecessary. So I think the way I've  trained is not age specific. It's just smart training for any athlete."

'A lot more confident'

Humphries competed for her home country of Canda at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Games. But she competed for the United States in 2022 after filing a complaint accusing her former coach in Canada of abuse and marrying an American man.

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The aging process seemed like the least of her troubles as she became the first gold medal winner in the women's monobob at the Beijing Games.

"I loved my 30s," Humphries told USA TODAY Sports. "I thought they were awesome. And 40 is no different. It's not like you all of a sudden go downhill…

"I liked having a little tighter of a face when I was 20. Don't get me wrong."

Humphries beamed.

She's shown the ability to adapt on the track, transition the two-woman sled in which she won two Olympic golds and a bronze to the monobob, where in 2022 she won another gold in the single-rider sled's Olympic debut.

"My body gets into shape really fast," Humphries said. "The muscle memory's there, so that's awesome. But I also lose it really quickly. So I don't get spend too many days not doing anything because it needs that constant feedback.

"I'm a lot more confident in myself, in my ability and who I am as a person versus when I was 20. And I know that that affects performance hands down because I know I can go out there and perform where when you're 20 you're like, please just hold on. Don't make mistakes. The things you're scared of or worried of are just so different. And so I don't worry about those things anymore."

Paying the price

Taylor, who is eight days older than Vonn, said competing as older athlete is expensive. The latest example was a crash she had during a practice run on the bobsled in Switzerland the first week of January, according to Taylor.

"I had that crash this week, so next week I'll have to fly out a physio (therapist) to come and work on me just for a week and buying a last-minute train ticket or last-minute flight to Berlin and booking hotel rooms and all this kind of stuff," Taylor, who will be competing in her fifth Olympics, told USA TODAY Sports. "Fortunately, I'm in a position within my sport that I'm able to afford it, but it's not cheap. It's not cheap to keep up this kind of level of performance. And you have to make those kind of financial sacrifices. You have to spend more on nutrition. You have to spend more on making sure you're not sitting in the back of a plane. You have to pay extra for an aisle seat and all those kind of stuff because the difference it's going to make at the end of the day."

In her 20s, Taylor recalled, she experimented with different approaches to training to try to figure out what worked best. Those days are long gone.

"Now everything's down to science, everything's down to a T," Taylor said. "We monitor nutrition and hydration. And not to say we weren't doing that stuff before, but now it's much more meticulous…

"In your 20s, you could sleep four hours and still have a great race. Now it's like, I need nine hours of sleep, and if I don't, we're going to pay some prices. So everything has to be maximized because father time isn't on your side anymore."

What science says

Kevin Murach, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas with an expertise in human performance, said scientific research helps explain why it's possible for women to thrive in their 40s. He cited the benefits of "muscle memory" and new ways to improve recovery.

He addressed Vonn's success despite a layoff of almost six years. (Deep breath as we plunge into the science.)

"…the research from my lab and others suggests that there are possible mechanisms specifically within skeletal muscle that can contribute to a rapid recovery of exercise adaptations following a layoff from consistent training," Murach wrote in an email to USA TODAY Sports. "What those specific mechanisms are is a topic of debate – my research suggests it could be related to epigenetics in muscle – I think it is becoming more accepted that there is a 'muscle memory' of previous training that sensitizes the muscle to retraining."

With regard to Humphries and Taylor, Maruch suggested that emphasis on recovery has contributed to their longevity in elite competition.

"I speculate that training loads have been adjusted to accommodate for longer recovery time which can be a consequence of the aging process," he said. "Different recovery tactics as well as an emphasis on quality sleep, in addition to monitoring various physiological metrics for quantifying recovery using new technologies and leveraging data to guide training decisions, seems to have increased in popularity in recent years. I suspect it is a variety of factors that are allowing for longer careers at the highest level of sport."

Ultimately, Murach put things in simpler language.

"In any case," he said, "the success of these women into their 40s gives the rest of us hope."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:How Lindsey Vonn, other women extend Olympic careers into 40s