2 Brazilian boys who were being held in Chicago reunited with fathers

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two boys from Brazil were reunited with their fathers after a federal judge in Chicago ordered the federal government to get it done.

Days ago, a federal judge ordered the boys be reunited by 1:48 p.m. Thursday. He also ordered that the government be barred from deporting their fathers without their sons.

Attorneys said the two families were reunited before the deadline.

The 9-year-old boy and his father were reunited in Chicago sometime Thursday morning. They are in the process of being transferred to the Berks Detention Facility in Pennsylvania.

As for the 16-year-old, attorneys say he was reunited with his father in Texas sometime Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

They were both released with ankle monitoring systems and were taken to a halfway house in El Paso before they move on to the East Coast to live with sponsors.

Neither family was in attendance Thursday in court.

"We have not received any feedback from our clients about how it went. We are hopeful that father and son are happily reunited after 48 days of separation and are enjoying time together as a family," said attorney Amy Rubenstein.

The father of the 16-year-old said he was seeking asylum to avoid a drug kingpin. The father of the 9-year-old said he was seeking asylum because he had borrowed money to come to the United States and the people he borrowed from are now after him.

The team of attorneys and organizations representing the families are calling it a victory, but one with a long road ahead.