[ad_1]
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Shy children received a meal and a plane ticket or bus to locations across the United States as non-profit groups tried to facilitate the return of children to the United States.
Interior of Centralized Processing Center in McAllen, Texas, Photo Date: 23/05/2018 / Photo: US Customs and Border Protection / MGN
The Trump Administration said Thursday that more than 1800 Children aged 5 and over had been reunited with parents or sponsors a few hours before the deadline. This includes 1,442 children who were released to their parents who were in custody in the United States and 378 who were released in various other circumstances.
But about 700 others remained separated, including 431 whose parents were expelled. say. These meetings take more time, effort and paperwork when authorities bring children back to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
On Friday morning, homeland security officials said that they had reunited all eligible parents with their children. they were released from immigration, are in their home country or chose not to be reunited
. The updated figures have not been made public, but new data is expected to be released Friday in San Diego.
"The administration will continue to make every effort to reunite eligible adults with their children," said a statement from Homeland Security.
Now, the San Diego federal judge who ordered reunification must decide how to address the hundreds of still separated children whose parents were expelled, as well as the time, if any, reunited parents should be allowed to file asylum applications.
Lee Gelernt, a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union representing separated parents, said Thursday that it was not clear how long it would take to find returned parents in their country d & # 39; origin. "I think it will be just a very hard detective job and I hope we will find them," he said.
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw will also review the ACLU's request to give reunified parents at least a week to determine if they wish to apply for asylum. The government opposes the waiting period, and Sabraw has stopped deporting the reunited families while the issue is decided.
On a legal front parallel to the treatment of immigrant children, US District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles will be invited Friday to
In a voluminous report filed this month, children described the appalling conditions that Trump administration must adhere to fulfill its obligations under a long-standing settlement governing the treatment of young immigrants. As the deadline approached, small groups of children were led inside and outside the Lutheran Social Services in Phoenix all day Thursday, sometimes standing the hand of a center worker. Children and parents wore identification bracelets similar to those of a hospital and wore business in white plastic bags. The men wore shoes without laces that were confiscated during their detention as an immigrant
. Support worker Julisa Zaragoza said some children were so afraid of losing their parents that they no longer wanted to go to the bathroom alone. "The federal government was supposed to reunite more than 2,500 children separated from their parents as part of a new immigration policy aimed at deterring immigrants from coming here illegally.
President Donald Trump ended the practice of taking the children of parents and Sabraw ordered the government to reunite all families by the end of Thursday, while indicating some flexibility given the enormity of
Chris Meekins, head of the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response for Health and Human Services, said the government would continue to reunite families with eligible parents throughout the evening
. Families are released and parents usually receive ankle bracelets and dates to appear before an immigration judge. Faith groups and other groups provided meals, clothing, legal advice, air and bus tickets and even new laces
a charity founded by technology leaders, including Bill Gates. The founder of Dropbox, Drew Houston, paid for airline tickets, bus tickets and accommodations for all newly reunited families in the Phoenix area to take them to live relatives in the United States, said Connie Phillips of Lutheran Social Services. She said that a telephone company donated 500 mobile phones to the migrants, each with six months of free service.
There were scattered meetings in various locations on Thursday, including about 15 in Phoenix, Phillips said. The main immigrant aid center in El Paso, Texas, receives about 25 reunited families each day
. Some children who had not seen their parents for weeks or months seemed slow to accept that they would no longer be abandoned
. José Dolores Munoz, 36, from El Salvador, found his 7 year old daughter last Friday, almost two months after their separation, but said that his daughter is crying when he leaves the house.
scared, "said Munoz. "Yesterday, I let her cry, she said to me," You're not coming back. "
Among those who remain separated from their children is Lourdes de Leon from Guatemala. returned to border authorities and expelled on June 7, while his 6-year-old son, Leo, remained in the US
De Leon said that Guatemalan consular authorities told him to sign an order deportation to find Leo.
"He is in a shelter in New York," de Leon said. "My baby has already had his hearing with a judge who signed his deportation eight days ago, but I still do not know when they will return it to me. "
At the Lutheran Center, Phillips said that parents and children had opened while they were going through an evaluation process with the workers She said the bestowal of donations was comforting.
"We have seen a lot of people gather around we see the best of what Americans can be, "she said.
reported from Washington and Snow reported from Phoenix. Associated Press editors Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kansas, Astrid Galvan in El Paso, Texas, Alan Fram in Washington and Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City contributed to this report
[ad_2]
Source link
