US reunites 522 immigrant children separated from families under 'zero tolerance' policy

The US Homeland Security Department said late Saturday the government has reunited 522 children separated from adults as part of a "Zero Tolerance" initiative and plans to reunite another 16 children over the next 24 hours.

>>Reuters
Published : 24 June 2018, 04:15 AM
Updated : 24 June 2018, 04:15 AM

The department said in a statement US Customs and Border Protection expects a small number of children separated for reasons other than zero tolerance would remain separated, including if the familial relationship cannot be confirmed.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order to end his policy of separating immigrant children from their families on the US-Mexico border, after images of youngsters in cages sparked outrage at home and abroad.

Demonstrators Madvhi Venkatraman and Gabi Huesca listen to the cries of illegal immigrant children held in a US detention facility after being separated from their parents that Venkatraman is playing through her megaphone during a protest against the separation of immigrant families outside the White House in Washington, US, Jun 22, 2018. Reuters

The department also said the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has 2,053 separated minors in HHS-funded facilities "and is working with relevant agency partners to foster communications and work towards reuniting every minor and every parent or guardian via well-established reunification processes."

Currently, 17 percent of minors in HHS funded facilities were placed there as a result of the Zero Tolerance enforcement effort, and the remaining 83 percent arrived in the United States without a parent or guardian, it said.