Under court order, the administration prioritized the cases of more than 100 parents whose children were younger than age 5, and the government has since moved on to the much larger 5-to-17 age group. After conducting background checks on parents and confirming familial relationships, the government interviews the mothers and fathers to ask if they want their children back before proceeding.<doc-sep>More than 450 parents accused of illegally entering the country may have been deported while their children remain in the U.S., a major stumbling in the federal effort to reunite all the families by Thursday's court-ordered deadline. The Trump administration, in federal court papers filed Monday, said the cases of 463 parents are "under review." The filing also said 879 parents had been reunited with their children and another 538 have been cleared for reunification. There are 917 parents considered not eligible or "not yet known to be eligible" – the 463 plus 454 others – to be reunited with their kids, the filing says. Some of those parents are no longer in the country, others have criminal records, communicable diseases or other issues rendering them ineligible. "The government’s word alone on this determination is not sufficient," the ACLU said in a statement. "We’ve asked the court to order the government to provide details about the nature of the charge, conviction, or warrant for each parent whom the government excluded, so that we can verify that not reunifying the child is truly in their best interest." The issue began with the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy that had resulted in all immigrants entering the U.S. anywhere other than legal entry points being arrested and their children ushered to Health and Human Services centers for care. Prior to the Trump policy, immigrants caught entering at non-entry points with children had simply been sent back with the children. More:Separated parents 'feel like hostages' while awaiting reunification More:Denaturalization task force a new way to threaten American Dream Last month, federal judge Dana Sabraw said the Trump policy might violate immigrants' due process rights and ordered the administration to reunify all children within 30 days. The administration missed its first deadline of reuniting the first group — children under age 5. The government reunited 57 of the 103 "tender age" children with their parents. The government faces a Thursday deadline to reunite children older than 5 with their parents. The ACLU and Trump administration attorneys are also at odds over the political asylum application process, according court documents filed Tuesday in federal court in San Diego. The feds have offered a four-day waiting period, but ACLU attorneys want seven days. Meanwhile, in a conference call with reporters Tuesday, immigration advocates said they are concerned that separated parents held in detention centers were coerced or pressured by ICE into signing documents agreeing to be deported or to give up their rights to pursue asylum. “They were being pressured by ICE to sign papers, that it would be the fastest way that they could see their child again, that if they choose to fight their case they would be kept in detention for many months longer, prolonging their separation from their children,” Royce Murray, policy director with the American Immigration Council, said during a conference call with reporters. KIND – Kids in Need of Defense – has been a leader in the charge to reunite the children with their parents. "We cannot be a nation that puts immigrant children in jail and throws away the key," the group said in a statement. "Saying that the Executive Order is an end to family separation is a cynical misrepresentation that has nothing to do with the well-being of families and is another act of abject cruelty towards immigrant children." Arizona Republic reporter Daniel Gonzalez contributed.<doc-sep>The Trump administration may have already deported as many as 463 migrant parents who were separated from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border, and they may have lost their right to reunification, Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing on Monday. Those parents may not be eligible to be reunified with their children, according to the filing, which grouped parents not in the U.S. as either potentially eligible or not eligible. The filing also reported that 879 migrant parents have been successfully reunified with their children, up from 364 on Thursday. But 917 parents may not be eligible for reunification at all. A total of 2,551 children between the ages of 5-17 have been taken from their parents at the border, many of whom were separated under Trump's "zero tolerance" policy that called for the prosecution of all immigrants crossing the border illegally. Migrant parents crossing the border with children now are held in detention with their children and not criminally prosecuted unless they have committed other crimes. The government has until Thursday to reunify the rest of the children, but it is still up for debate which ones are deemed eligible by the court. The Justice Department has argued to U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, overseeing the reunification case from the Southern District of California, that parents who were deported had the option to reunify with their children but many chose to leave them behind to seek asylum. NBC News reported on the form given to parents by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers that gave them this option, and many immigration lawyers said parents felt pressured to drop their own asylum cases in order to be deported and reunified with their children. Attorneys for the ACLU representing the separated parents say many signed forms to be deported without their children while not knowing their full legal rights. At the ACLU's request, Sabraw ordered a temporary hold on deportations of reunified families until the ACLU could be sure it had reached the parents to provide them legal counsel. "These parents urgently need consultations with lawyers, so that they do not mistakenly strand their children in the United States," the ACLU said in the joint court filing on Monday. Children not reunified with parents will be sent to live with a family member or sponsor while their asylum case plays out, officials have said. A status conference in the case is expected late Tuesday.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — The Trump administration gave its first indication Monday of how many parents separated from their children may have already been deported: More than 460. In a status update on the ongoing court-ordered family reunifications filed Monday, the government said 463 parents of separated children aged five and older are indicated as no longer in the US, according to their files. Though the government says the number is “under review,” it implies that potentially that many parents were deported from the US without their child. The government has maintained that any parent deported without their child had the opportunity to bring their kid with them, but willingly left without them. Attorneys and immigrant advocates have questioned whether the parents fully understood to what they were agreeing. A federal judge has ordered all families separated by the administration at the border reunited by Thursday, provided they are not ineligible due to issues like criminal history or safety concerns. But for the 12 already deported parents the government identified in its first batch of reunifications, families with children under the age of 5, the government missed the deadline. Tracking down those parents and reaffirming they in fact do want their child to remain in the US without them proved difficult when the parents numbered one dozen. The government has not indicated how it will track down hundreds. According to the status report filed in federal court in San Diego, the administration says there have been 879 families reunited – nearly doubled since Friday. Another 538 parents are in government custody and cleared for reunification but waiting on transportation for reunification. The filing also includes reunifications “or other appropriate discharges” of children from detention: 1,187. That number would presumably would include children who have been released to a family member or friend that was deemed an eligible sponsor by Health and Human Services. There are 1,634 out of 2,551 separated children who have been potentially cleared for reunification. Another 194 are either ineligible or declined reunification, 463 are not believed to be in the country and another 260 are being reviewed. The Department of Health and Human Services believes many of those children may have been released to another family member or sponsor. Of the parents still in the US, 900 are already facing a final order of deportation. Judge Dana Sabraw has temporarily ordered a pause on all deportations of reunited families as he considers a request to allow families time to evaluate their options before deportation. Another hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday evening.