No end in sight for divided families

HOUSTON — As the U.S. government said it had reunited every immigrant family it could, hundreds of families remained separated a day after Thursday’s court-ordered deadline, with no reunification in sight. Lawyers and advocates sharply criticized the U.S. government for creating a bureaucratic and legal snarl that’s made it difficult to reunify families and created a scenario where some may never see their children again.

“There is no question that there may be families that are permanently separated as a result of this policy,” said Michelle Brané, director of migrant rights at the Women’s Refugee Commission.

The government had until the end of the day Thursday to reunify more than 2,500 families separated at the U.S.-Mexico under President Donald Trump’s zero tolerance immigration policy that stoked global outrage. The government said it had reunited more than 1,800 children over the age of 5 with parents or placed them with sponsors who are often relatives.

That leaves 700 who remain apart, including what is believed to be more than 400 cases where the parents have been deported.

The American Civil Liberties Union plans to start looking for all the parents on its own. The advocacy group Kids in Need of Defense has deployed staff to Honduras and Guatemala to facilitate reunions.

“I think it’s going to be really hard detective work,” said Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney.

The government says the mothers and fathers of 120 children “waived reunification” and dozens more weren’t eligible to get their children back because they had criminal records or weren’t the biological parent.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say some of the parents who were deported had the chance to take their children and declined after already paying smugglers thousands of dollars to make the dangerous journey from Central America.

“And once their children are here, they are generally not going to give up the opportunity for their children to remain in the country,” said Matthew Albence, the executive director of ICE’s enforcement and removal operations.

Some of those the government is detaining have previously been deported and then tried to reenter the country.

Sara Ramey of the San Antonio-based Migrant Center for Human Rights says the government appears to be refusing to release some parents with immigration records if their children are with a sponsor.