A recent court filing in the ACLU class action case over family separations at the U.S border shows that more than 200 children who have been separated from undocumented immigrant families are still in U.S. custody.
The latest government report on the number of immigrant children in custody cites 245 children in total. 175 of the children have parents who have already been removed from the country. Only 18 of the 175 are currently set up to be reunited with their parents back in their home countries. 125 of the kids in custody have parents who have been deported but don’t want their children sent back to their countries of origin. Officials say 32 of children who remain in government custody have not yet been given notice by their parents about the decision to decline or accept reunification.
The other 70 children still in government custody include 27 kids with parents in the country who have decided against reunification, and 26 children with parents who have been deemed unfit for reunification. The government is also working on discharging 13 children with parents in the U.S. 3 children in custody can’t be reunited with parents due to safety concerns or criminal detention.
In June, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabra ordered the government to reunite families that were separated at the border by reversing the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. Since the ruling, 2,070 children have been released from government custody and reunited with parents.
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