565 migrant children remain separated from guardians

A new status update from the Trump administration and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed on Thursday states that 565 migrant children detained at the border remain in U.S. custody.

The report includes a chart offering a number of reasons why the children have not yet been reunited with guardians.

{mosads}It states that 366 adults are outside the United States, and that 154 have indicated they do not wish to be reunited with their children. Some adult guardians are in U.S. custody, and various “red flags” have been filed on 73 of the adults. 

Twenty-four of the children who remain in U.S. custody are under the age of 5.

The ACLU has sued the Trump administration over its separations of children from their guardians at the border, and the status report was released as part of that suit. 

The separations began under the administration’s zero tolerance border policy, but were ended after a storm of criticism from both political parties.

The report said 2,089 children have been discharged, either to their parents or another guardian.

It was reported that 572 children were still separated from their families at the beginning of August.

A federal judge had implemented a July 26 deadline for the reunification of all separated families, which the government failed to meet.

The deadline was put in place after U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw granted the ACLU an injunction on the administration’s policy. 

The government initially showed unwillingness to take the effort to reunify the families, saying groups like the ACLU should use their “considerable resources” to reconnect the family members themselves. Sabraw disagreed, putting the onus on the government.