Image copyright EPA Image caption A young migrant child waiting to be processed in Texas after the government's suspended zero-tolerance policy

The Trump administration has said 27 young migrant children are "not eligible for reunification" with their parents, according to a court filing.

Twelve other children's mothers or fathers have already been deported from the US, said the government.

"Legitimate logistical impediments" are delaying reunions for many of the 102 children under five years old who were taken from parents, US officials say.

Nearly 3,000 children were split from undocumented adults entering the US.

As he boarded a plane to Europe on Tuesday, President Donald Trump was asked his solution to the child migrant situation.

He said: "Don't come to our country illegally. Come like other people do. Come legally."

His administration was bound by a court order to reunite children aged five and under by 10 July.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption 'It's been 50 days since I heard of my son'

The Department of Justice (DoJ) and American Civil Liberties Union's (ACLU) joint status report on Tuesday detailed why the 27 children cannot yet be reunited with their families.

The parents of 10 children were being still held in criminal custody after crossing the US border without papers, and have yet to be fully assessed, said the report.

Eight other children's parents have a "serious criminal history" including narcotics, human smuggling, murder and robbery.

Two other children cannot be reunited with parents because of a possible threat of child abuse.

Five children had been separated from adults who were not their parents.

Another child's parent is being treated for a communicable illness.

The location of another child's parent has been unknown for more than a year. Records show both parent and child might even be US citizens.

Some 75 of the 102 separated children have been determined eligible to be reunited with their families, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

But as of Tuesday afternoon, the government said it had only reunited four of those children with their parents.

It said it expected to reunite another 34 by the end of the day, in accordance with the deadline.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Trump supporters talk family separations and border security

But 12 children cannot be immediately reunited with their families because their parents have already been deported.

For those children, the court filing says they "may be reunified if their parents can be located and if those parents request reunification".

The ACLU said it accepted that those parents in criminal custody cannot be reunited with their children yet.

But it said in many cases "the government is not in compliance with the clear deadline ordered by the Court".

The ACLU said: "For the [parents] who were deported without their children, [US government officials] have not even tried to contact them or facilitate their reunification by today."

What happens now?

The government will probably receive an updated order and deadline for reuniting these children.

Trump administration attorneys have requested a "flexible schedule" for reuniting or removing children since "pieces of this process are out of [the government's] hands".

The filing notes that the government agencies and ACLU are working together to locate parents in immigration detention facilities.

US government officials recently told four immigrant mothers they must pay for DNA tests to be reunited with their children, an immigrant shelter in El Paso, Texas, where the women are staying, told the Daily Beast.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Feeling what it's like to cross the US border

At a hearing on Monday in San Diego, California, a federal judge agreed with the government that some cases "will necessitate additional time".

The government is still mandated to reunite the remaining children aged five to 17 - numbering as many as 2,900 - with their parents by 26 July.

Meanwhile, a court in Los Angeles has rejected the Trump administration's request to allow the long-term detention of illegal immigrant children.

Under a 1997 agreement, child migrants can only be detained for 20 days.

The federal judge said the administration's request to extend that limit was "a cynical attempt" to shift immigration policymaking to the courts.

Another 10,000 or so migrant children currently in US custody entered the country without parents, undertaking the long and dangerous journey alone or with strangers.</s>The Trump administration has been racing to meet its court-mandated July 10 deadline to reunite migrant families, following its highly controversial (and now-abandoned) "zero tolerance" policy, in which any person caught crossing the U.S. southern border illegally faced prosecution and possibly separation from their children. The regulation prompted an international outcry, which ultimately ended with President Donald Trump signing an executive order to halt the separations. However, only a few families have been reunited so far, and you might not want to get your hopes up that that'll change any time soon, either, because the deadline to reunite migrant families isn't happening, according to the Trump administration.

The deadline required that 102 migrant children under age 5 who were separated from their guardians be reunified with their families by Tuesday, July 10. However, that apparently isn't happening, as Justice Department attorney Sarah Fabian said on July 9 that officials would only be able to reunite between 54 and 59 of the children by the deadline, according to The Washington Post. Apparently, officials have encountered multiple challenges that have slowed down the reunification process, including 18 parents who the government has already deported or released after separating them from their children. Additionally, there are other parents who are in custody awaiting prosecution, or have criminal records that prohibit them from immediately claiming their children. And officials say they have to DNA-test every separated child and parent to confirm that they are, indeed, related.

Despite the complications, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, who ordered the deadline, said he was still "encouraged" about the process, according to the Times. He added: “This is real progress. I’m optimistic that many of these families will be reunited tomorrow.”

However, the administration's failure to meet the imposed deadline indicates one of its many challenges that lie ahead when it comes to migrant families. For instance, the administration also has a deadline to reunite nearly 3,000 children over 5 years old with their parents by July 26, and with this latest news, the chances of the administration fulfilling the deadline look pretty grim. An official at the refugee office — who chose to remain anonymous — opened up about the hurdles of the reunification process to Politico on July 2, telling the outlet:

The Trump administration has also taken heat for withholding the exact number of children being detained. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar told reporters on June 26 that 2,047 separated children still remain in HHS custody following President Trump's executive order. However, when TIME inquired about an updated number on July 2, a spokesperson only shared how many minors are in their custody, in general, without specific reference to the number who had been separated from their parents. An email to TIME from the HHS spokesperson read:

Needless to say, the stall in the reunification process, the HHS' lack of confirmation, and the separation ordeal itself, have resulted in overwhelming emotions from onlookers. From the reports of young children and even infants being taken from their parents to heartbreaking photos and audio of children crying for their parents, it's all been awfully sad to watch.

But, although there's not a clear timeline for reunions, we have to keep the hope alive that it'll happen quickly, and that the children don't have to spend any more time than they absolutely have to away from their parents.</s>The Trump administration will miss a mandated Tuesday deadline to reunite migrant children with the parents, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego ordered last month that children under age 5 must be reunited with their families by Tuesday, July 10, and all other children by July 26. According to the judge, the government never properly planned a reunification process.

“Measures were not in place to provide for communication between governmental agencies responsible for detaining parents and those responsible for housing children, or to provide for ready communication between separated parents and children,” the judge said.

Late Sunday, the ACLU obtained a list of 102 children under the age of 5 from the administration. Based on that list, the organization said it “appears likely that less than half [of families] will be reunited” by the Tuesday deadline.

The U.S. Department of Justice asked a judge last week for more time to reunite the separated families. “The government does not wish to unnecessarily delay reunification” Justice Department lawyers told the court, according to NBC News. They added that the government intended to reunite families “in a manner that ensures the safety of the child.”

The Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy on undocumented people entering the country resulted in more than 2,000 children being forcibly taken from their parents. Dr. Colleen Kraft, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics called the practice a form of child abuse.

“It’s extremely disappointing that the Trump administration looks like it will fail to reunite even half the children under 5 with their parent,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt. “These kids have already suffered so much because of this policy, and every extra day apart just adds to that pain.”

The ACLU seeks to receive a detailed plan from the Trump administration for family reunification, including a timeline.</s>An updated list of over 100 children separated from their parents has now been released by government officials.

The Trump administration will miss the Tuesday deadline to reunite all parents and children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to the Washington Post, Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian said officials have identified 102 children aged 4 and under who have been taken from their parents. Border officials predict that they will return 54 to their parents by July 10.

Fabian told the U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw that dependent on background checks, up to 59 children will be reunited with their parents at a hearing early Monday morning.

Federal officials have yet to disclose the exact number of separated families to Sabraw, who is the judge presiding over a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union to speak for those affected by the immigration crackdown in the past few weeks.

Government lawyers claim that federal agencies have not been able to find some of the parents who were released or deported after they were separated from their children. Others remain in criminal custody or now have records that prevent them from quickly reclaiming their children.

Officials claim that they are banding together to locate the missing parents, and the majority of them will be released in the United States.

“I am very encouraged about the progress,” Sabraw said during the proceedings. “This is real progress. I’m optimistic that many of these families will be reunited tomorrow.”

This past weekend Sabraw had charged the government with the task of providing a list of the separated children’s names to the ACLU, then scheduled an additional hearing for Tuesday morning.

CNN reports a media release on Sunday where the ACLU claimed that the government had “initially provided incomplete information” by the Saturday night deadline given for the list. An updated list with 102 children’s names was then delivered on Sunday.

Fabian said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will reunite the families in a secret location and then be released before the immigration proceedings begin. She claims that the parents and children will not remain in ICE custody while they await their court dates.

ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said that the government had taken “significant steps” to rejoin the separated parents and children, but that the ACLU was still in the dark about how much effort the Trump administration has made to locate the parents.

The government has been instructed to rejoin the almost 3,000 children older than 5 with their families by no later than July 26.</s>WASHINGTON (CBSMiami/CNN) – While the Trump Administration stopped enforcing the policy of separating children from their parents at the border, many of those families are still waiting to be reunited.

A list provided by the government suggests that fewer than half the migrant children younger than 5 years old who have been forcibly separated from their parents will be reunited with their families by Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said.

A court order issued June 26 set a deadline of July 10 to reunite the roughly 100 young children with their parents.

On Friday, Justice Department attorney Sarah Fabian told a court that officials might need additional time to track down dozens of parents who are no longer in custody — including 19 who were already deported. Fabian said officials should have no problem reuniting children and the 46 parents who remain in ICE custody.

In a media release Sunday, the ACLU said that the government had “initially provided incomplete information” by a Saturday night deadline to list the children under 5 it had forcibly separated from parents and a revised list provided Sunday gave the names of 102 children.

“It appears likely that less than half will be reunited by Tuesday’s court-ordered deadline,” the group said.

A July 26 deadline remains in place for the reunification of all migrant children separated from their families by the Trump administration.

“It’s extremely disappointing that the Trump administration looks like it will fail to reunite even half the children under 5 with their parents. These kids have already suffered so much because of this policy, and every extra day apart just adds to that pain,” Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in the statement.

But an administration official said efforts to reunite the children are “highly encouraging.”

“Consistent with the court’s optimism and encouragement, the administration has worked tirelessly since Friday’s status conference toward the shared goal of promptly reunifying families while ensuring the safety of the children,” the administration official said.

“The results of that work have been highly encouraging, and the Department of Justice is eager to present its progress to the court on Monday and to chart a path forward to safely reunifying other families expeditiously.”

Where are the parents?

Friday’s hearing was the latest in an ACLU lawsuit over the administration’s family separations. The case includes a broader group of thousands of other children and parents, but the hearing focused largely on the pressing deadline for children under 5.

The Justice Department attorney provided the most detailed description officials have released so far about this particular group of immigrant children who were separated from their parents. Of the roughly 100 kids, Fabian said:
• 83 kids have been linked to 86 parents.
• 16 kids have not yet been linked with parents.
• 46 of those parents remain in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• 19 of those parents have been released from ICE custody.
• 19 of those parents have been removed from the United States.
• Two of the parents have criminal histories that will prevent officials from reuniting them with their children.

Officials have been marshaling “significant resources” as they work to comply with the court order, Fabian told the court Friday.

But she said their efficiency is hampered by requirements in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which sets out requirements officials have to follow when they release children into someone’s custody.

It’s one reason, she said, why officials are taking such painstaking steps to confirm parent-child relationships using methods that include DNA testing.

Gelernt took issue with the government’s DNA testing, saying it should be used as “a last resort” and pointing to privacy concerns.

He argued the government does not have to follow such “lengthy, cumbersome procedures” to reunite separated families.</s>A federal judge in San Diego just threw a lifeline to the federal government’s scrambled efforts to reunite immigrant children with their parents. Judge Dana Sabraw on Monday gave the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services extended his deadline for the government to reunite dozens of immigrant children under age 5 with their parents.

At the hearing, Justice Department attorney Sarah Fabian conceded that the government would only be able to reunite 54 small children out of an initial list of 102 by the Tuesday evening deadline. The children had been separated because of the Trump administration’s short-lived family separation policy.

On June 27, Sabraw ruled that the Trump administration had to reunite all the children who it had separated from their parents in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. Sabraw gave the government two weeks to reunite parents with children under 5, and a month to reunite parents with children over 5. But instead of enforcing the deadline, Sabraw gave the government more time to comply with it.

Fabian cited a host of issues barring the government from reuniting children and parents: Some parents have been convicted of serious crimes, some have already been deported, some have been released into the United States and the government can’t find them, some are in criminal custody and in one child’s case, the government still can’t identify a parent.

Lee Gelernt, the ACLU attorney who has helmed the case, told The Daily Beast he was disappointed by the day’s outcome.

“For the individuals who are not in criminal custody, we’re extremely disappointed,” he said. “But at this point, as I said in court, we are where we are.”

Immigration attorneys and advocates have long feared the government would struggle to reunite the families it separated. Federal public defender Chris Carlin told The Daily Beast in June that there was “a real possibility” some children will never be reunited with their parents, especially children whose parents were deported without them.</s>Government Will Not Meet Deadline To Reunite Children Separated From Their Parents

More than half of the families who were detained and separated were reunited Tuesday, but as many as 48 children remain in custody. A federal judge in San Diego heard from Justice Department lawyers on who has not been reunited, why, and what the new timeline is.</s>The US government has only managed to reunite two of 102 migrant children under the age of five with their families after they were separated at the southern border, and has admitted it will not be able to meet a federal district judge’s deadline for them all to be reunited by Tuesday.

In a hearing on Monday, the Department of Justice told Judge Dana Sabraw that it expects to reunite another 54 children by tomorrow’s 10pm deadline, which would leave approximately 46 children separated.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which sued the government over family separations forcing Sabraw’s ruling, slammed the government for using a long, drawn-out administrative process that it said “makes no sense”.

“These kids have already suffered so much because of this policy,” said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt. “Every extra day apart just adds to that pain.”

The government is using procedures from its process of reuniting unaccompanied minors, which the ACLU argues is not necessary because the children were not unaccompanied until the government separated them from their parents.

DoJ attorney Sarah Fabian said the government was still working to do background checks and confirm the relationships between the adults and children in its custody.

More than 2,000 children were forcibly separated from their parents at the Mexican border this spring under the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy on illegally entering the country. While parents were prosecuted, children were placed in the custody of the Health and Human Services Department in facilities dotted across the country.

Amid an international outcry, Donald Trump reversed course on 20 June and said families should remain together.

On 26 June, Sabraw set the government deadlines to reunite children under five, who are being held at so called “tender age shelters”, with their families by Tuesday. The government has until 26 July for older children. Sabraw, who was appointed by Republican president George W Bush, wrote that the “situation has reached a crisis level” and that the “chaotic circumstances” were of the government’s own making.

During the hearing the ACLU also accused the Trump administration of missing 10 children in its count of those in its custody aged newborn to five.

Sabraw denied a DoJ request for a blanket extension on Friday, but appears likely to grant short extensions for all the yet-to-be reunited children tomorrow when the ACLU and government return to court.

Sabraw said on Monday he was “very encouraged with the progress” made so far, and ordered the government to provide a list by 6pm PT with the most current status on each of the individual cases. Sabraw has asked the government for specific reasons for each failed reunification.

The DoJ argued there are a number of reasons for the delay. Some of the children were brought to the US by someone who is not their biological parent, for example, while others have parents with serious criminal records.

According to the DoJ, 12 of the children under five have parents either in local or federal criminal detention who must serve time before being transferred to the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or Ice, a law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security. Another 18 have parents who were lost by the administration after their deportation or released into the US.</s>A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to abide by an order to reunite dozens of children with their parents by the end of the day, turning down a Department of Justice request for more time.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, who ordered the administration to reunite nearly 3,000 children separated by federal immigration agents, asked an attorney for the ACLU to prepare a proposal for possible punishment if the government misses Tuesday's deadline to reunite the first round of families.

"These are firm deadlines," Sabraw said. "They’re not aspirational goals."

Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian said DNA tests that are being conducted on 16 parents and children to confirm they are indeed related could stretch into Wednesday. Sabraw didn't budge.

"They need to respond," he said. "They need to be...aware of the deadlines. I expect these tasks would be provided today."

The government faces two deadlines to reunite families that were separated by immigration agents, most under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy that went into full effect in recent months.

All children under age 5 must be reunited by Tuesday, a group that includes about 100 children. Sabraw concluded that 63 of those must be reunited by Tuesday. The others have more complicated cases, including parents who may pose a threat to their child, those in state and federal prisons facing non-immigration, criminal charges, and 12 who have been removed from the country.

More: Mexicans comprise bigger share of border prosecutions since Trump ended family separations

More: Strangers raise $43K to help migrant mothers reunite with separated children

All other minors — close to 3,000 of them — must then be reunited by July 26.

Sabraw said he was encouraged to see the work done by various federal agencies who have been involved in detaining and reuniting parents and children who are spread out around the country. But he made clear that those deadlines will remain.

The only area where Sabraw provided some wiggle room for the administration is in cases where the parent has been deported. He said those families must be reunited under his order, but acknowledged that those reunifications will take some time. He said he will lay out a plan for those reunions in the days to come.</s>A US federal judge has agreed to extend Tuesday's deadline for the government to reunite 102 migrant children under the age of five who were separated from their parents under President Donald Trump's Zero Tolerance policy.

On Monday, Judge Dana Sabraw asked government attorneys to provide an update by Tuesday morning on which children will be reunited and who will require more time, and to deliver a proposed timeline for reuniting the remaining children with their parents, reports NBC News.

During the conference in a federal court in San Diego, Sabraw said he recognised that some cases "will necessitate additional time." Sarah Fabian, an attorney for the Justice Department, said she expects that 54 out of 102 children will be reunited with their parents on Tuesday.

The government requested a deadline extension on July 6, telling Sabraw they would be able to reunite only about half of the children by the court's first deadline of July 10 since they were unable to locate many of the parents.

According to Fabian's statement on Monday, nine of the parents have been deported and nine have been released, making it all the more difficult to track them down. Other parents have criminal records that will keep them from being reunited, the attorney added.

The government's difficulty in reuniting migrant children with their parents has caused outrage among immigration and child welfare advocates who had staunchly warned against separation, NBC News reported.

From May 7 to June 20, the US Customs and Border Protection was instructed to prosecute any adult immigrant caught crossing the border illegally, thereby sending parents to federal custody while their children were taken into the care of the Health and Human Services.

According to the agency, nearly 3,000 children need to be reunited following Sabraw's order to reunite the children separated from their parents, even those who were taken before the policy was implemented.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the agency is continuing its search for the separated parents through various government databases.

On Saturday, at Sabraw's request, the government provided a list of the 102 children under the age of five who had been separated from their parents by Border Patrol, along with any information on their parent's whereabouts.
The Trump Administration misses a court mandated July 10th deadline to reunite some of the youngest of the separated children with their families, citing "legitimate logistical impediments".