As deadline arrives, fear and uncertainty persists for many

A mother at Los Angeles International Airport threw her arms around her two teenagers, whom she had not seen in two months. Another waited anxiously in south Texas for her 7-year-old boy to arrive from New York. And in a village in Guatemala, a father who was deported in June did not know when he might see his 6-year-old daughter again.

A court-imposed deadline that had government officials scrambling to complete the reunification of more than a thousand migrant families by Thursday led to emotional scenes across the country, as parents and children who had not seen each other for weeks or months were together again.

But much remains unresolved after months of chaos and confusion resulting from the Trump administration’s family separation policies.

Under an order issued by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, Thursday was the deadline for reuniting the more than 2,500 children who were taken from parents at the border.

With just hours left before the deadline, government officials said Thursday afternoon that they had reunited 1,442 children with their parents.

An additional 378 children had been released to sponsors, were reunited with their parents in other ways or have turned 18 years old, according to court filings.

More than 700 were deemed ineligible by the government for reunification. Among them are 430 children whose parents have already been deported.

Those that were reunited, meanwhile, face an uncertain future _ 900 of them have been ordered deported, according to court filings.

The American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawsuit against the government led Sabraw to order the reunifications, is arguing that those families should be allowed to remain in the country for seven days in order to consult with lawyers.

Hundreds of other families have been released from detention with the adults wearing ankle monitors, pending hearings on their asylum claims. And more than 200 families were sent to detention centers, where parents and children are being held together.

On a call with reporters Thursday, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Health and Human Services described a much smoother reunification process than advocates and lawyers say they have seen firsthand.

In preparation for reunifications, officials said, children were moved for short periods of time into detention center conference rooms and offices that were stocked with food, water and games. Some watched DVDS or played video games while their parents were processed.

“When we knew the parent was coming, we had them ready so kids could leave soon,” said Matthew Albence, executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE.

Officials said they were confident all families that had been deemed eligible would be reunited by the end of the day Thursday.

But in addition to the deported parents, officials said nearly 300 children would not be reunified with their parents for various reasons. According to the government’s filing, several dozen children had parents who failed a background check or other government review. And the parents of 120 children waived reunification.

Officials said parents opted to leave children behind with spouses or other relatives and had been given the opportunity to change their minds.

In court documents filed by the ACLU on Wednesday, a number of parents who waived reunification described signing forms they did not understand because of language or literacy barriers.

Many of these parents “in fact do want their children back and did not remotely understand their rights,” the ACLU said in its filing.

For those families who were eligible for reunification, chaotic scenes unfolded around the country as officials rushed to meet the deadline.

In south Texas, hundreds of families were taken to the Basilica of San Juan del Valle, a massive shrine that Catholic Charities has converted into a shelter.

The Rev. Jorge Gomez said the charity has opened the basilica to separated families and those released together, about 300 each night, including pregnant women.