美国国家公共电台 NPR Government Misses Migrant Family Reunification Deadline

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NOEL KING, HOST:

Yesterday, the Trump¹ administration missed a court-ordered deadline to reunify about a hundred small children who were separated from their immigrant parents at the border over the past two months. Federal officials scrambled² to rejoin about half of the families and promise to reunite the others as soon as possible. But there is an even bigger deadline looming³. NPR's John Burnett is on the line with us from Austin. Good morning, John.

JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE⁴: Morning, Noel.

KING: All right. So why has the federal government not been able to meet the deadline that was set by a judge?

BURNETT: So at a hearing in San Diego yesterday, a Justice Department lawyer said that 51 kids were eligible⁵ for reunification on Tuesday, but others would have to happen later. Then they gave this cascade⁶ of numbers of those they couldn't rejoin for various reasons. They said that 12 parents have already been deported⁷, that eight parents have been released into the U.S., eight parents had serious criminal histories, 10 are still locked in criminal custody⁸. Health and Human Services - HHS - says they need more time to make sure the parents are the actual parents, make sure they're safe and fit to take custody of the kids. To hear the government tell it, they made the deadline with flying colors. Here's Chris Meekins in a call to reporters. He's chief of staff in HHS' Office of Preparedness and Response.

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CHRIS MEEKINS: HHS is complying with the court order to reunify children separated at the border from their parents. In fact, the judge has praised our progress and our focus on the safety of the children.

BURNETT: That's a bit self-congratulatory. In the hearing yesterday, Judge Dana Sabraw told the government it shouldn't have separated the kids in the first place. It needs to streamline⁹ the screening process to reunite them, and it needs to speed up the whole process. And if it misses any more deadlines, he wants the Justice Department lawyer back in his courtroom.

KING: Well, what are the actual repercussions¹⁰ for missing the deadline?

BURNETT: Well, we don't actually know yet. The federal judge is being very understanding so far. He said he believes the government is acting¹¹ in good faith to reunite all these kids. And then, remember; these were the little ones so far, ages 5 and below, who were taken away from their parents just after they crossed the southwest border, some of them crying hysterically¹².

KING: Right. There are still a lot of older kids over the age of 5. Now that the government has some semblance¹³ of a reunification process established, do you think it's going to be easier to get those older kids back to their parents?

BURNETT: Right. It's taken many hearings and enormous resources just to try and put a hundred kids back with their parents, and HHS has brought on 230 extra people and created an incident command center. So now, they're looking at this second deadline. The judge has given the government until July 26, which is just over two weeks from now, to put about 2,000 more children together with their moms and dads. These are the older kids from ages 5 to 17. And it's going to be a Herculean task. I mean, the parents are spread all over the U.S. and Central America. Some are in - some are out of detention¹⁴. I'm sure there'll be more hearings, and the government's going to ask for more extensions.

The ACLU, for its part, thinks the government is dragging its feet. They're the ones who brought the lawsuit¹⁵ to reunify the families. ACLU lawyers think this reunification process could move faster if the administration wanted it to. Reporters asked President Trump about the whole reunifying imbroglio¹⁶ yesterday, and here's what he said.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I have a solution. Tell people not to come to our country illegally. That's the solution.

KING: Not a heck of a lot of sympathy there. All right. What happens to the families once they have been reunited?

BURNETT: You know, Noel, it's murky¹⁷. Every time we ask the question, they circle the wagons¹⁸ and say they want to protect the privacy of the families. What we know is the parents and kids are being reunited at third locations close to youth shelters. Then, certain faith-based groups like Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and Catholic Charities step in. They help arrange transportation to the destination city here in the U.S. and help them rent a house or a hotel room, get food, blankets, medical aid. And this is interesting. An official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the reunited families will not be detained again. So long as the parent doesn't have a deportation¹⁹ order, the parent will be given an ankle monitor, and they'll be released and wait for their asylum²⁰ hearings.

KING: NPR's John Burnett in Austin; John, thank you so much.

BURNETT: You bet, Noel.