Feds say 2,000 kids still held

WASHINGTON— The total number of migrant children in federal custody after being separated from their parents has barely changed since last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told Congress on Tuesday.

At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Azar said the Health and Human Services Department currently has 2,047 migrant children in its custody because of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy at the southwest border. That's only six fewer children in total than the 2,053 the department had previously reported as of Wednesday of last week.

Azar didn't say whether in the meantime additional children had been transferred to the department.

That's nowhere near enough progress, said Democratic senators questioning the health chief.

"HHS, Homeland Security and the Justice Department seem to be doing a lot more to add to the bedlam and deflect blame than they're doing to tell parents where their kids are," said Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden.

Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) defended Azar, telling him: “You've clearly been saddled with some really tough problems, and I have confidence you'll handle them expeditiously and well.”

Azar said he's hampered by a court order that says children can't be held longer than 20 days with parents detained by immigration authorities.

However, lawyers for the migrants say the administration can get around that barrier by temporarily releasing the parents while their asylum cases are being decided by immigration authorities. Many parents have trekked north from Central America fleeing rampant violence in their countries to seek asylum under U.S. laws.

A fact sheet released by the Health and Human Services Department late Saturday said U.S. Customs and Border Protection had reunited 522 children in its custody with their parents.