RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge on Tuesday ordered three U.S.-born children to be reunited with their deported Mexican father, a move toward resolving a 2-year legal fight that has drawn international attention.

Social services officials in rural Alleghany County had sought to terminate the parental rights of Felipe Montes, who crossed the border illegally in 2003 to work on Christmas tree farms near the mountain town of Sparta. Montes later married a U.S. citizen and the couple had three sons.