Almost 4,000 migrant children separated from families during Trump era

The US Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families has revealed that the previous administration of Donald Trump separated at least 3,913 migrant children from their parents or guardians.

The separations occurred between 1 July 2017 and 20 January 2021 but the Task Force, operating under Homeland Security Department, is still investigating another 1,700 separations and is also reviewing the period between January to July 2017 to ascertain if more separations had occurred.

“While the Task Force has overcome many of the initial hurdles encountered during the first 120 days, key decisions and challenges remain. Most notably, the Task Force must continue to tackle the absence of family separation records maintained by the prior Administration,” a report by the task force read.

The administration of Joe Biden is now trying to reunite or connect separated children with their families and so far 1,779 have been successful reunited with mainly non-governmental organizations helping to reconnect families. The Task Force has been able to reunite seven families within the last 30 days and it is still trying to reconnect 29 more. US officials still have 2,127 separated children to reunite but are also aware that some may have reconnected with their parents by themselves.

The Task Force has worked mainly in cooperation with the American Liberties Union (ACLU) when reuniting children with their families. ACLU has condemned the Trump administration for its immigration policy which led to the forcible separation of families and now Biden’s administration is relying on the NGO to connect families again. US officials have also asked all non-governmental organizations to support the administration in the process of identifying those migrants who are the most in need.

“NGOs who have been working with families and the ACLU continue to play a critical role in contacting parents and facilitating the reunification with their children,” the report says.

The separations stemmed from the “zero tolerance” policy introduced by Donald Trump in 2018 which stipulated that the US authorities could prosecute any unauthorized crossing of the border, including asylum seekers and people with children. As a result of this policy, US officials separated children from their parents or guardians and they began criminal proceedings against many people who were seeking shelter in the US, very often fleeing due to the poverty and violence experienced in their own country.

Roberto Lopez, the community outreach coordinator with the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP) who worked in south Texas courtrooms where hundreds of separated parents faced criminal charges said:

“It was a mass prosecution … There was just so much pain. Many times, they were asking, ‘Do you know where my kid is? When will I see them?’ And we had to tell them again and again, ‘We don’t know.’”

When the impact of Trump’s policy was revealed, especially when an audio recording of sobbing children being held in detention went viral, the criticsm of his administration led the former president to sign an order to end separations in June 2018.