US Immigration: Government fails to meet court deadline to reunite separated families

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02:41

The US government has missed a federal judge's deadline to reunite some 25-hundred immigrant children with their parents, declaring some of the adults "ineligible". The children were separated after crossing the US-Mexico border, as part of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" crackdown. CGTN's Roee Ruttenberg reports from Brownsville, Texas.

In May, the Trump administration announced it would prosecute anyone who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without the proper paperwork. No questions asked. Children were seized, and their parents were charged as criminals.

The move triggered a national, and international, outcry. In June, a federal judge stepped in and ordered reunifications. A first deadline, earlier this month, to reunite children under the age of five with their parents was only partial met. A second deadline expired on Thursday. It was specifically aimed at some 25-hundred older kids and their families.

Federal officials say around half have been reunited. But they've deemed hundreds of parents ineligible and say hundreds of others have already been deported, without their children.

ROCHELLE GARZA IMMIGRATION LAWYER "None of us actually believed they were going to do it. What they're doing is their justifying why they didn't do it."

Rochelle Garza is a local attorney. She represents some of the children being held.

ROCHELLE GARZA IMMIGRATION LAWYER "In the short term, it's very simple: end the family separation, just reunite the families, don't remove them from the country, if they signed an expedited removal order, cancel it. Allow them to go through their right to seek asylum in the United States, to go through the immigration process."

"I'm just angry. I'm more angry than anything."

Local activist Elisa Filippone got involved with Angry Tias and Abuelas, or Angry Aunts and Grandmothers. They load-up donated backpacks and hand them out.

ELISA FILIPPONE LOCAL ACTIVIST "Some of them are released from the detention center and they put their things in a plastic bag, or they also give them this sack that looks like an onion sack. And that's what they have. And I just try to give somebody a little dignity and a little hope."

ROEE RUTTENBERG BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS "The building behind me is what's known as a 'tender age facility,' meaning it houses babies and children up to the age of 12. Their parents are being held at facilities all across the United States. And those who are lucky enough to be reunited with their children are flown here to South Texas. Roee Ruttenberg, CGTN, in Brownsville, Texas."