US judge extends deadline for reuniting migrant children

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A US judge on Monday gave the government more time to reunite migrant children aged five or younger, separated as a consequence of Trump's "zero tolerance" policy, with their parents.

The decision came after a government lawyer said around half of the 102 young children could be returned to their parents by the previously-given deadline of Tuesday.

They are among the more than 2,300 children split up from their families as a consequence of the "zero tolerance" practice that saw their parents prosecuted for illegally crossing the border, even if they did so to seek asylum.

Many are fleeing gang violence and poverty in Central America.

Mothers and children wait to be assisted by volunteers in a humanitarian center in the border town of McAllen, Texas, June 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

Following domestic and global outcry over the separations, in which some children were kept in chain-link enclosures, Trump ended the practice on June 20.

But The New York Times reported late last week that, under pressure to reunite the families, authorities were struggling to connect them after records linking children to their parents disappeared and in some cases were destroyed, although not as part of a deliberate attempt to obfuscate.

At the hearing in San Diego, Judge Dana Sabraw gave the authorities extra time to determine which children will be back with their parents, as government lawyer Sarah Fabian said 54 of the youngsters could be returned to their parents by the Tuesday deadline.

Sabraw previously ordered that thousands more children aged five and younger should be reunited with their parents by July 26, but Monday's hearing did not touch on their cases.

Demonstrators march against the separation of immigrant families as they pass the US Justice Department in Washington, DC., June 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

The government on Friday asked for an extension of the deadline, saying it needed more time to find and confirm the identities of the children and parents.

Despite the delays, the judge reportedly said he had seen "real progress and I'm optimistic that many of these families will be reunited tomorrow, and then we'll have a very clear understanding as to who has not been reunited, why not, and what time-frame will be in place."

In total, the authorities are holding around 11,800 minors who crossed the border illegally. Around 80 per cent of them are teenagers who tried to make the crossing without their parents, said Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Source(s): AFP