SAN DIEGO — A federal judge on Friday prohibited the separation of families at the border for purposes of deterring immigration for eight years, preemptively blocking resumption of a lightning-rod, Trump-era policy that the former president hasn’t ruled out if voters return him to the White House next year.

       U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw tentatively approved a court settlement in October between the Justice Department and families represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU says no one formally objected, clearing the way to end the case nearly seven years after it was filed.

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       Sabraw, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, ordered an end to separations in June 2018, six days after then-President Donald Trump halted them on his own amid intense international backlash. The judge also ordered that the government reunite children with their parents within 30 days, setting off a mad scramble because government databases weren’t linked. Children had been dispersed to shelters across the country that didn’t know who their parents were or how to find them.