Nearly Half of Immigrant Children to Reunite with Their Parents as Deadline Looms

Dozens of immigrant children are set to be released from detention centers and reunited with their parents after being separated due to President Trump's "zero tolerance" border policy.

 

A government lawyer says at least 54 children under the age of 5 will join their parents by Tuesday's court-ordered deadline which is only about half of the 100 or so infants and toddlers covered by the order.

 

Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian said the government wouldn't be able meet the deadline for all the children for various reasons. For example, some of their parents have already been deported.

 

The parents reuniting with their children Tuesday will be freed while their cases wind through immigration court, but they may be required to wear ankle monitors.

 

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt told reporters he was "both pleased and disappointed" with the government's progress toward meeting the deadline but said those who remain split from their parents are "in for a long process."

 

Both sides are back in court Tuesday for US District Judge Dana Sabraw to rule on differences over protocols to follow when reuniting children.

 

One area of disagreement is DNA testing on parents and children, with the government saying it should be the general rule and the ACLU saying it should be done only when there is no other way to prove their relationship.

 

But officials say the DNA tests will actually expedite reunification since those tests take about a week while the normal method involves paperwork and investigations that can take much longer.

 

More than 2,000 children total were separated from their parents this spring before President Donald Trump reversed course on June 20 after widespread backlash.