Dozens of immigrant children to reunite with parents

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Dozens of immigrant children will be released from detention centers and reunited with their parents this week.

A government lawyer said Monday at least 54 children under the age of five would join their parents by a courtordered deadline, only about half the 100 or so children covered by the order. The Trump administration was working on final background checks for another five children ahead of yesterday’s deadline.

Parents in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody “for the most part” are being taken to locations near their children and the families will be released, Justice Department attorney Sarah Fabian said in court. She said locations would not be publicly disclosed, but children have been sent to shelters across the country.

More than 2,000 children were separated from their parents by US immigration authorities at the border this spring before US President Donald Trump reversed course on June 20 amid an international outcry. Last week, US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said there were “under 3,000” separated children in all.

Late last month, US District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego set a 14-day deadline to reunite children under five with their parents and a 30-day deadline for older children. The 30-day deadline is up on July 26.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt sought assurances from the government on Monday that advocates would be in position to guide parents when they are released in a foreign land. The parents will be free while their cases wind through immigration court, which can take years, and may be required to wear ankle monitors.

On Monday, a federal judge in Los Angeles rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to detain immigrant families in long-term facilities, calling it a “cynical attempt to undo a longstanding court settlement.”

US District Judge Dolly Gee said the government had failed to present new evidence to support revising a court order that limits the detention of children who crossed the border illegally.

The Department of Justice asked Gee to alter a 1997 settlement, which provides the framework for how to handle detained immigrant children, so it could detain families together for longer periods.