Health and Human Services was unable to reunite 12 of the 46 young immigrant children who were separated from their parents because the adults were deported and chose to leave their child in U.S. federal custody, an official confirmed Thursday.
The dozen adults “had the opportunity to bring the child with them” when they were given removal orders, but opted against it, Matthew Albence, executive associate director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, told reporters during a call Thursday.
The ICE official said adults left the kids in U.S. federal custody because they knew they would eventually be placed with sponsors and wanted the kids to grow up in America.
“Their goal when they paid the smuggler and these cartels $5-6,000 … was to get their children here. So if they have to go back on their own, that’s fine because that was their goal in the first place,” Albence added in a different call Wednesday.
The Trump administration has reunited 57 eligible children of the total 103 kids under the age of five who had been separated from their parents as a result of the zero tolerance policy, officials confirmed Thursday morning.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirmed details of the reunifications, and provided reasons why each of 46 other young children could not be reunited with their parents at this time.
The 46 others were approved by the court as ineligible for release because the adult they were separated from did not meet U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw’s criteria.
Sabraw, ruling in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, had mandated kids under five to be reunited within two weeks. He also mandated approximately 2,000 kids between the ages of five and 17 to be reunited with verified parents within 30 days.
The administration will provide a list of the older kids to the plaintiff’s counsel later Thursday. An HHS official said Thursday that some of the older kids who are related to the younger kids were reunited with their parents as part of the first order.
