WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden administration task force designed to reunite children separated from their families Nearly 700 children have been reunited with their families during Trump’s presidency, officials said Thursday.
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to reunite split families under the Trump administration’s widely condemned practice of forcibly separating parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border to discourage illegal immigration. issued toThursday marks the second anniversary of the Task Force.
Between 2017 and 2021, 3,881 children were separated from their families, according to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security. About 74% of them were reunited with their families. Before the task force was created he was 2,176, then 689.
But there are still nearly 1,000 children left. Of these, 148 are in the process of reunification. The agency has pledged to continue its work until all found separated families have had the opportunity to be reunited with their children.
The Trump administration has separated thousands of immigrant parents from their children as it moves to criminally prosecute those who illegally crossed the Southwest border. Minors who could not be held as criminals with their parents were transferred to the Ministry of Health and Human Services. They were then usually sent to live with a sponsor, often a relative or someone else related to the family.
Hundreds of families sued the federal government.
Families can register for reunion services Through the website, they can receive assistance with procedures such as applying for humanitarian parole, which allows them to come to the United States, and applying for behavioral health services to assist them.
At a press conference Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas discussed efforts to address the “wounds” the separation has caused.
He explained that he met the mother of a teenage girl who separated from her mother when she was 13 and reunited when she was 16. she leaves. She didn’t understand the power behind the separation. ”
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