The Trump administration, under court order to reunite children younger than 5 with their parents after the families were forcibly separated at the border, says it will only be able to reunify just over half of the families by today’s deadline.

SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration, under court order to reunite children younger than 5 with their parents after the families were forcibly separated at the border, told a judge Monday that it will only be able to reunify just over half of the families by Tuesday’s deadline.

Of the 102 young children identified by the government, two have been reunited with their parents and 54 are expected to be by Tuesday.

Those cases have been easier to accommodate because the parents are in immigration custody. Authorities have been moving those parents to detention facilities close to where their children are being sheltered.

By Tuesday the children will be brought to the parents in the detention facilities located around the country, and then the families will be released together on immigration parole into the community, said Sarah Fabian, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which requested the injunction as part of a lawsuit, is hoping to be notified of when and where the releases will take place so volunteers can respond with offers of assistance — from bus tickets to clothing to hotel rooms.

The families will then be able to pursue their immigration cases or asylum claims as a unit, with lawyers provided by the ACLU if needed.

The rest of the children fall under varying circumstances — at least nine have parents who have already been removed from the United States, while others have parents who are still being vetted or still need to be located after being released into the U.S. from immigration custody.

Twelve children have parents who are in either state or federal criminal custody and won’t be able to be reunited at this time.

Three children were found to have crossed the border with parents who have criminal backgrounds that make them unfit to care for their children, while another three children crossed with adults who were found not to be their parents, Fabian said.

Authorities can’t find evidence of any parental records for one child, a 3-yearold boy.

“This is obviously of enormous concern to us,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt told reporters outside the courthouse.

The updated numbers were given during a court hearing in San Diego federal court Monday morning before U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw.

The judge is holding the government to the deadline while acknowledging that it will be impossible to reunite every child under 5 within the next day.

“I am very encouraged by the progress,” he told both sides. “I’m optimistic that many of the families will be reunited” by Tuesday.