Talks that were being held secretly over the family detention program have broken down, which now means that a federal judge will make a ruling on how and when immigrant mothers and children can be locked up during the asylum and other court procedures.

Department of Justice officials and lawyers for the mothers have been engaged in high level talks for nearly two months, trying to negotiate new agreements after a U.S. District Judge found that locking up mothers and children in secure facilities went against a 1997 agreement on detaining migrant children.

The negotiations were extended more than twice before they got abandoned. The exact reason for the breakdown is unclear, but the two sides have not exactly been able to agree on conditions under which mothers and children could be held.

 “At this stage the parties are unable to reach an agreement that would resolve the currently pending motions,” the two sides said in a joint motion. “The parties agree that at this stage, further discussion would not be fruitful.”

The spotlight now turns to the judge, who, based on her draft ruling was expected to rule favorably for the immigration lawyers. In her recent draft ruling the judge swiped away federal officials’ claims to “rosy account of the conditions” at the federal centers and said children and mothers should not, for example, be held in a concrete-block facility built to house adult prisoners.