Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Deadline Passes for Reuniting Immigrant Parents, Children

by VOA News

   The court-ordered deadline has passed for U.S. officials to reunite all
   eligible children who were separated from their parents after entering
   the country.

   U.S. officials said they expected to reunite all eligible children who
   had been separated from their parents after entering the country
   illegally by Thursday's court-ordered deadline (0700 UTC Friday). It
   was not immediately clear if that goal was met.

   The Justice Department said in a court filing Thursday afternoon in San
   Diego that more than 1,400 children 5 years old and older had been
   reunited so far. Also 378 were released in what it calls "appropriate
   circumstances," meaning they were turned over to sponsors who can
   properly care for them.

   About 700 children, however, are still in government custody and their
   fates are uncertain.

   Many of their parents have been deported from the United States,
   leaving the children in what one immigration advocacy group calls a
   "black hole."

   In some cases, government lawyers said the parents are criminals or
   unfit to care for children.

   'Deported parents

   Immigration attorneys said some of those who returned home alone may
   have been led to believe by the government that going back to their own
   country was the only way they could see their kids again.

   Lawyers for the America Civil Liberties Union say they have advocates
   on the ground in such places as Honduras and Guatemala and will
   investigate that allegation.

   "The government shouldn't be proud of the work they're doing on
   reunification," Lee Gelernt of the ACLU said Thursday. "We created this
   cruel, inhumane policy ... now we're trying to fix it in every way we
   can and make these families whole."

   'Zero-tolerance policy

   Under President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy, families who
   illegally crossed into the United States from Mexico in most of April
   and May were automatically detained.

   But because it is illegal to put children in jail, the youngsters were
   taken away from their parents and held separately.

   Visitors to these detention centers reported seeing children held in
   cages in less than ideal conditions and given little to occupy their
   time all day.

   Trump signed an executive order rescinding the family separations after
   a nationwide outcry, including from many fellow Republicans.

   A judge gave officials two separate deadlines to reunite children
   younger than 5 and children 5 and older.

   Many of the parents have been given ankle bracelets after being
   reunited with their children so they will not skip a hearing for
   asylum.