Trump administration misses court deadline to reunite separated migrant children, over 900 families remain apart

The Trump administration failed to meet a federal court-ordered deadline of July 26, 2018, to reunite approximately 2,500 migrant children aged 5-17 who had been separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border under the administration's family separation policy. By the deadline, the government had reunited only 1,442 children, leaving over 900 families still separated. Most critically, 463 parents had been deported without their children, making reunification significantly more difficult. The deadline was set by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw as part of a preliminary injunction ordering reunification and halting most family separations. The administration had already missed an earlier July 10 deadline for reuniting children under age 5. The crisis was the direct result of the Trump administration's 'zero tolerance' policy that criminally prosecuted all border crossers and systematically separated families, a policy that continued despite widespread condemnation and cou...

“We're not going to apologize for doing our job. We've got to get this right.” — HHS Secretary Alex Azar defending the administration's reunification efforts despite missing the court-ordered deadline and leaving hundreds of families separated