The administration has reunited the majority of families they’ve separated, but still over 500 parents and their children remain apart, including 23 infants or toddlers, according the most recent government figures.
Family separation at the southwest border is a direct result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border control policy of criminally prosecuting migrant parents arriving at illegal (and, sometimes legal) entry points. Families have been apart for months because of this misdemeanor offense, resulting in longterm trauma.
On June 26, a federal judge overseeing an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit against the Trump administration ordered all families to be reunited by July 26. One month later, and officials still have not reunited all 2,654 families they identified as separated between April and June.
Here’s what we know about every family, as of the last court filing from Thursday, August 23:
- 1,923 kids are reunited with parents
- 203 kids were discharged “in other appropriate circumstances.” These kids could have turned 18 years old and been released or placed with sponsors, perhaps relatives. It’s unclear if the ACLU or the judge will count the latter as a “reunification,” as they’ve prioritized reuniting kids with their parents.
As for the 528 kids still separated weeks after the July 26 deadline, the government cited various reasons why they still can’t reunite them, including having deported hundreds of parents:
The challenge remains in reuniting families where parents have been deported without their children. Over 400 parents were removed from the United States, and because of this, 343 families still remain separated.
The government and ACLU have been working together to either reunite families in their country of origin or keep them separated so the child can seek asylum in the U.S. — with the family fully consenting to either option. The government says 139 removed parents have said they don’t want to be reunited with their child, but some parents have told the ACLU that they were coerced or misled into waiving reunification rights.
Due to these allegations, an ACLU steering committee is calling removed parents to confirm their desires. Out of 412 parents, they’ve successfully spoken to 231. So far, they’ve confirmed 10 reunifications outside the U.S. They also identified future possibilities: 12 families have elected reunification in the country of origin and three have decided to decline such reunification. They still don’t have contact information for 41 parents.
While speaking to parents by phone, the ACLU also learned some may have been coerced or misled by government officials in such a way that deprived parents of their own right to seek asylum. For example, parents were told that they needed to accept removal and not pursue asylum in order to be immediately reunited with their children. Some parents were asked to sign documents they didn’t understand.
Last week, the ACLU argued that parents should return to the U.S. if they wish to reunite with their kids instead of being reunited in their country of origin and to pursue U.S. asylum claims jointly. The judge appeared skeptical of the claim, saying it is a “significant undertaking.” No decision has been reached yet.
A separate lawsuit ruling from last week blocks the government from forcing parents to choose between waiving their child’s right to seek asylum so they can be deported together or waiving reunification so that the child can pursue their own claim in the U.S. This temporary restraining order includes parents who already waived their child’s asylum rights. It provides a relief to about 1,000 parents facing this choice and hundreds facing immediate deportation.