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.
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.