Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
US Says Half of Youngest Children and Families Reunited
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 7 years ago on
July 12, 2018

Share

WASHINGTON —  The Trump administration says all eligible small children separated from their families as a result of its zero-tolerance immigration policy have been reunited with their parents.
But nearly half of the children under 5 remain separated from their families because of safety concerns, the deportation of their parents and other issues, the administration said.
The administration was under a court mandate to reunify families separated between early May and June 20, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order that stopped separations. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a woman who had been separated from her child, and U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw ordered all children reunited with their parents.
Fifty-seven children were reunified with their parents as of Thursday morning, administration officials said.
“Throughout the reunification process, our goal has been the well-being of the children and returning them to a safe environment,” according to a statement from the heads of the three agencies responsible for the process. “Of course, there remains a tremendous amount of hard work and similar obstacles facing our teams in reuniting the remaining families. The Trump administration does not approach this mission lightly.”

ACLU: Trump Administration Missed the Deadline

ACLU lawyers said regardless of the reunifications, the government missed the court-ordered deadline and they would be deciding how to address the noncompliance with the court.
“If in fact 57 children have been reunited because of the lawsuit, we could not be more happy for those families. But make no mistake about it: the government missed the deadline even for these 57 children,” attorney Lee Gelernt said.
The officials said 46 of the children were not eligible to be reunited with their parents; a dozen parents had already been deported and were being contacted by the administration. Nine were in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service for other offenses. One adult’s location was unknown, they said.

Officials: Deported Parents Left Children Behind

Of the deported parents, officials said they had chosen to leave their children behind. One deported father, however, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week that he didn’t realize what he was doing when he signed the paperwork to leave his child behind. It wasn’t clear if he was one of the dozen; no names have been made public.
In 22 other cases, adults posed safety concerns, they said. Officials said 11 adults had serious criminal histories including child cruelty, murder or human smuggling. Seven were not determined to be a parent, one had a false birth certificate, one had allegedly abused the child. Another planned to house the child with an adult charged with sexually abusing a child.
“The seriousness of the crimes is the reason why we are not going to reunite them,” said Matthew Albence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, of the 22 cases.
The 46 children will remain in the care of Health and Human Services, which will continue to seek to place them with a sponsor, such as other family members or even foster care, as it does for the more than 10,000 other minors who arrived in the U.S. without a relative. Children spend an average of 57 days in shelters before they’re placed with a sponsor. They are given access to medical care and counseling, as well as school.

At Least 2,300 Children of All Ages Separated

The zero-tolerance policy calls for the criminal prosecution of anyone caught crossing the border illegally. Because parents can’t take their children to jail, they were separated. The move caused an international uproar. At least 2,300 children were separated from about 2,200 adults until the executive order was signed. Federal officials have been scrambling to reunite the children under a tight, two-week deadline set by the judge.
Part of the issue, administration officials said, is that the systems weren’t set up to reunify parents with their children. Health and Human Services manages their care inside the U.S. Homeland Security has control over adults in immigration detention, and the Justice Department manages the immigration courts.
Earlier this week, government attorneys told Sabraw that the Trump administration would not meet the deadline for about 20 children under 5 because it needed more time to track down parents who have already been deported or released into the U.S.
Sabraw indicated more time would be allowed only in specific cases where the government showed good reasons for a delay.

DNA Used To Identify Families

The administration defended its screening, saying it discovered parents with serious criminal histories, five adults whose DNA tests showed they were not parents of the children they claimed to have, and one case of credible child abuse.
The government pays for DNA and screening fees, officials said.
The administration faces a second, bigger deadline — July 26 — to reunite more than 2,000 older children with their families. Immigration attorneys say they already are seeing barriers to those reunifications from a backlog in the processing of fingerprinting of parents to families unable to afford the airfare to fly the child to them — which could run as high as $1,000.

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Newsom Wants to Bypass Trump Tariffs With Direct CA Trade Deals

DON'T MISS

Markets Plunge With S&P 500 Down 6% and Dow Down 2,200 After China Retaliates

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Searching for Missing 12-Year-Old Girl

DON'T MISS

Madera Community College Unveils New Multicultural and Veterans Center

DON'T MISS

Fusion Energy Race Is On. Two Local Lawmakers Want California to Lead the Way

DON'T MISS

Saturday’s Spring Fest to Showcase Free, Low-Cost Activities for Fresno Kids

DON'T MISS

LA County Reaches $4 Billion Agreement to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims at Juvenile Facilities

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Deadly Marijuana DUI Crash

DON'T MISS

Judge Says US Must Return Maryland Man Who Was Mistakenly Deported to El Salvador Prison

DON'T MISS

These Fresno First-Graders Are Topping Their Peers in Reading

UP NEXT

The NBA’s Playoff Chase Enters Its Final Days. Here’s a Look at What’s Happening

UP NEXT

USC’s JuJu Watkins Named AP Player of the Year After Historic Sophomore Season

UP NEXT

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman Lands on Injured List Following Fall in His Shower at Home

UP NEXT

How Trump’s Latest Tariffs Could Affect Your Wallet

UP NEXT

Curry Scores 37 Points and Warriors Beat Lakers in a Potential First-Round Playoff Preview

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Orders New Evacuation of Gaza City Neighborhoods

UP NEXT

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

UP NEXT

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

UP NEXT

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

UP NEXT

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Madera Community College Unveils New Multicultural and Veterans Center

2 hours ago

Fusion Energy Race Is On. Two Local Lawmakers Want California to Lead the Way

2 hours ago

Saturday’s Spring Fest to Showcase Free, Low-Cost Activities for Fresno Kids

2 hours ago

LA County Reaches $4 Billion Agreement to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims at Juvenile Facilities

3 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Deadly Marijuana DUI Crash

3 hours ago

Judge Says US Must Return Maryland Man Who Was Mistakenly Deported to El Salvador Prison

3 hours ago

These Fresno First-Graders Are Topping Their Peers in Reading

4 hours ago

Fresno Burial Ceremony to Honor Five Abandoned Babies Set for Saturday

4 hours ago

Visalia Man Arrested for Soliciting Sex From Minor in Kingsburg

5 hours ago

Camalah Saleh Cruises to Win in Stormy Fresno State Student Elections

6 hours ago

Newsom Wants to Bypass Trump Tariffs With Direct CA Trade Deals

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday asked exporting countries worldwide to spare California their retaliatory tariffs, saying he plans to pursue dir...

49 minutes ago

49 minutes ago

Newsom Wants to Bypass Trump Tariffs With Direct CA Trade Deals

Specialist Anthony Matesic works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP/Richard Drew)
1 hour ago

Markets Plunge With S&P 500 Down 6% and Dow Down 2,200 After China Retaliates

Fresno police are searching for Unique Hernandez, 12, last seen on Friday, April 4, 2025, near Inyo Street and Maple Avenue, wearing all black clothing and carrying a black backpack. (Fresno PD)
1 hour ago

Fresno Police Searching for Missing 12-Year-Old Girl

2 hours ago

Madera Community College Unveils New Multicultural and Veterans Center

2 hours ago

Fusion Energy Race Is On. Two Local Lawmakers Want California to Lead the Way

2 hours ago

Saturday’s Spring Fest to Showcase Free, Low-Cost Activities for Fresno Kids

3 hours ago

LA County Reaches $4 Billion Agreement to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims at Juvenile Facilities

Antonio de Jesus Orozco Montes Deoca, 30, was sentenced on Friday, March 4, 2025, to 14 years and 8 months in prison for a deadly marijuana DUI crash in 2022 that killed one woman and injured four others. (GV Wire Composite)
3 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Deadly Marijuana DUI Crash

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend