Detainees given ‘next steps for families’

They can call the Immigration and Customs Enforcement call center from inside or outside a detention facility from Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Undocumented immigrants prosecuted under the “zero tolerance” policy for entering the country illegally are separated from their children because kids cannot be jailed with adults.

Once in the custody of Customs and Border Protection, adults are handed a flier that details the “next steps for families.”

It’s unclear how many detained immigrants have used the hotline listed on the flier to seek information about the whereabouts of their children. Officials with Customs and Border Protection have not released statistics related to the hotline.

It’s also unclear how long children typically remain separated from their parents, said Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector Chief Manuel Padilla.

“There’s not a set standard of how long a child will remain (under the custody) of Health and Human Services,” Padilla said Sunday during a news conference at the Customs and Border Protection processing center in McAllen, Texas.

How families can be reunified Step 1

Adults are charged with the crime of illegal entry into the USA.

Step 2

Within the next 48 hours, the adults are transferred to the custody of the Department of Justice and will be presented before a judge for having violated the law.

The adults’ children are under the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement. The children will be held in a temporary children’s shelter or hosted by a foster family.

The reunification process falls in the lap of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Step 3

Adults can attempt to locate their children in three ways, according to the flier. They can call the ORR Parent Hotline from inside or outside a detention facility. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Friends, family, ORR staff and legal representatives can assist parents by emailing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Step 4

After their court hearing, adults are transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE agents will work with ORR to schedule regular communication — via telephone and/or video teleconferencing — between detainees and their children.

ICE provides access to legal self-help materials.