Update on the Child Separation Crisis

Columnist Philip Bump with the Washington Post released a report this week on the reunification of families at the border that was implemented by the Trump Administration in 2018. The policy called for separating children from their parents at the US-Mexico border as a deterrent to illegal immigration. Children were taken from their parents and placed in detention centers while their parents were prosecuted for illegal entry. Consequently, the policy was widely criticized and condemned by domestic and international communities, as it caused significant harm and trauma to children and their families. It was rescinded in June 2018.

The policy continues to have an impact. A report on efforts to reunite separated children with their parents was released by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month. There are still more than a thousand separated families, and hundreds haven't begun the process of reunification.

The DHS figures include all children separated from their parents since Trump was inaugurated until his departure. This is a total of more than 3,900 children. Currently, over 2,900 children have been reunited with their families, with more than 300 still being reunified or being contacted about starting the process.

Approximately 660 children have not yet been reunited with their families. There have been 183 contacts with families about reunification. However, there could be multiple children in those 183 contacts. The government established a website called http://Together.gov that provides information on reunification. It is estimated that about 2,000 families have been referred through this process.

A monthly tally of the number of children separated from their parents is provided to Congress by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Click on this link to read the report and view the graphs: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/13/trump-immigrants-children-border/?utm_campaign=wp_the_5_minute_fix&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_fix&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F391dde4%2F63eabe191b79c61f87900b60%2F5ef79d19ae7e8a4360d79689%2F26%2F44%2F63eabe191b79c61f87900b60&wp_cu=e3d72e9a650dbf00372ce41983a08601%7CA916A9726B7D137AE0530100007F80A1