We need more time: US
MIGRANT-REUNITE DEADLINE NEARS
The Trump administration on Friday asked a court for more time to reunite all migrant children and their parents after their separation at the southern border.
The request came a day after Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar (inset) said officials were racing against federal Judge Dana M. Sabraw’s June 26 order that the feds reunite “under 3,000” children by July 26.
Roughly 100 children from birth to age 4 were also supposed to be reunited by Tuesday under the order, and HHS was using DNA testing to ensure the kids and parents were actually related.
The government “is seeking more time in instances where officials are struggling to match children to parents,” according to court records filed by the Justice Department.
At a status hearing Friday in San Diego, Sabraw asked the government for a list of all the children under the age of 5 covered by the reunification order — plus any reasons the administration believes it may need more time for reunions in particular cases.
The government has until 5 p.m. Saturday to comply with the order.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the plaintiffs’ counsel, will have until Monday at 9 a.m. to respond before the court reconvenes.
After a conference call with Azar on Friday, Senate Democrats excoriated the administration, saying few children had been reunited and that the administration had no workable plan to comply with the order.
“Just got off the phone w/ HHS. I am furious & horrified after immigration conference call – virtually no separated children have been reunified; no system, no plan, no path to assure reunification; no answers to key questions. Strategy seems to be: blame everyone else,” tweeted Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
On Thursday, Azar said the administration “will comply” with the deadlines, though he called Sabraw’s timetable “extreme.”
The judge’s ruling stemmed from an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of a Brazilian woman and a Congolese mom who are both demanding to see their kids.
Sabraw’s ruling also applies to families separated before the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy was implemented in May.
The policy, which called for criminal charges to be leveled against all migrants crossing the border illegally, dramatically increased the number of separations.