Today is the first deadline issued by a federal judge involving parents separated from their children at the border by the Trump administration. Government officials must make sure every separated parent has a way to contact their child, according to CNN.
A hearing is set for later today in San Diego and the Department of Justice may ask the court for an extension of the next deadline. The judge has said all children under the age of five who were separated from their parents must me reunited by July 10, next Tuesday.
The likelihood of that happening is remote, especially considering the number of separated kids seems to be growing. Last week the government said a little over 2000 children were impacted, now it’s more like 3000. The Los Angeles Times reports:
“The Trump administration admitted Thursday that the government has separated hundreds more children from their parents after illegal border crossings than had previously been revealed and that none of the families have yet been reunited.
Roughly 100 of the children are younger than 5, Alex M. Azar, the secretary of Health and Human Services, whose agency has custody of the children, told reporters on a conference call.”
Donald Trump’s idea has turned into a disaster, not only for the separated families but for those in the government responsible for fixing the mess. A lack of paperwork means, in some cases, officials are using DNA to try and reunite families.
“DNA tests are being used to certify a familial relationship between adult and child, Azar said on Fox News Thursday. ‘We have to confirm that these are in fact their parents and we have to confirm they’re appropriate people to be having custody of these children,’ he said. ‘We’re doing DNA testing on everybody who claims to be a parent of one of our children to confirm that.’
This practice is proof, immigrant advocates say, that the Trump administration did a terrible job tracking where people were going when first separated.”
“The news today that they’re using DNA testing to match the parents with the children just goes to show that they have no system in place. When they separated them, they had no idea how they would ever, perhaps, reunify them” – @JohnBerman https://t.co/OVMTbEMAKU pic.twitter.com/0YGgiUBkV5
— New Day (@NewDay) July 5, 2018
Nine days after a federal judge ordered the reunification of families, the Trump Admin continues to hold nearly 3000 children who have been separated from their parents. The barbaric treatment of these little ones must end. #FamiliesBelongTogether https://t.co/yKgt1dRHYW
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) July 5, 2018
I just visited a shelter for separated children in California. The kids had a place to sleep, food to eat, a school to attend and medical care. Everything, but what they need — their parents.
We must reunite these families: https://t.co/Pnk71rlutA
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 5, 2018