Trump administration says it knows location of all children
new york — Trump administration officials say the US government knows the location of all children in its custody after separating them from their families at the border and is working to reunite them.
A fact sheet on “zero-tolerance prosecution and family reunification” released on Saturday night by the Department of Homeland Security also says a parent must request that their child be deported with them.
In the past, the agency says, many parents have elected to be deported without their children. That may be a reflection of violence or persecution they face in their home countries. As part of the effort, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have posted notices in all its facilities advising detained parents who are trying to find or communicate with their children to call a hotline staffed 8am to 8pm on Monday through Friday.
A parent or guardian trying to determine if a child is in the custody of HHS should contact the Office of Refugee Resettlement National Call Center at 1-800-203-7001, or via email information(at)ORRNCC.com. Information will be collected and sent to HHS funded facility where minor is located.
The fact sheet doesn’t state how long it might take to reunite families. The Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Texas has been set up as the staging ground for the families to be reunited prior to deportation.
How the government would reunite families has been unclear because the families are first stopped by Customs and Border Patrol, with children taken into custody by HHS and adults detained through ICE.
Children have been sent to shelters around the country, raising alarm that parents might never know where their children can be found. —