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U.S. NEWS Friday 26 april 2019

Judge gives U.S. 6 months to

identify children split at border

By ELLIOT SPAGAT oversee the effort. After he knowns about the process.
Associated Press spoke, the judge praised The American Civil Liber-
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The fed- his continued involvement, ties Union, which sued over
eral government has six calling him "a beacon of family separations, wanted
months to identify poten- light." The administration the job completed in three
tially thousands of children will develop a statistical months, which White said
who were separated from model within 12 weeks to was unrealistic. The ACLU
their families at the U.S.- search for factors most agreed Thursday to six In this Dec. 13, 2018, file photo, teen migrants walk in line inside
the Tornillo detention camp in Tornillo, Texas.
Mexico border early in Pres- likely for separations. Those months.q Associated Press
ident Donald Trump's term, factors, detailed in an ear-
a judge said Thursday. lier court filing, include
Trump administration offi- children under 5, younger
cials said they had a goal children traveling without a
of six months but opposed sibling and those detained
any deadline, saying it in the Border Patrol's El
could take as long as two Paso, Texas, sector, where
years to reunite children the administration ran a
with their parents. trial program that involved
U.S. District Judge Dana separating nearly 300 fam-
Sabraw said he would con- ily members from July to
sider an extension past six November 2017.
months but that he wanted On a parallel track, the ad-
to establish a firm date. ministration will begin work
"It is important for all gov- immediately on identifying
ernment actors to have a children who were sepa-
timeframe, a deadline," he rated after U.S. Customs
said. "You tend to stand on and Border Protection in-
it." troduced a tracking system
The administration will re- in April 2018.
view about 47,000 cases of The government lacked
unaccompanied children tracking systems when the
in custody between July administration began a
1, 2017 and June 25, 2018 "zero tolerance" policy a
— the day before Sabraw year ago to criminally pros-
halted the general prac- ecute every adult who en-
tice of separating families tered the country illegally
and ordered that children from Mexico, sparking an
under government care at international outcry when
the time be reunited in 30 parents couldn't find their
days. children.
More than 2,700 children Poor tracking before April
had been separated 2018 and the fact that still-
when Sabraw issued his separated children are no
June order and they have longer in U.S. custody com-
largely been reunited. plicates the latest task.
Then, in January, the inter- The vast majority of sepa-
nal watchdog for the U.S. rated children are released
Health and Human Services to relatives, but many are
Department reported that not parents. Of children
thousands more children released in the 2017 fis-
may have been split since cal year, 49 percent went
summer 2017. The depart- to parents, 41 percent to
ment's inspector general close relatives such as an
said the precise number aunt, uncle, grandparent
was unknown. or adult sibling and 10 per-
Jonathan White, a com- cent to distant relatives,
mander of the U.S. Public family friends and others.
Health Service and Health White told the judge that
and Human Services' point six months was his "opera-
person on family reunifi- tional target" but that he's
cation, testified for about been wrong before and
an hour on how he would there were still lots of un-