A Department of Health and Human Services official said Tuesday that 2,047 children who were separated from their families under the “zero tolerance” policy are currently in the care of HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. That is only six fewer children than HHS reported having custody as of last Wednesday.
Commander Jonathan White, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS, said that a total of 11,800 children nationwide are in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s shelter network. Eighty-three percent of them are minors under the age of 18 who entered the U.S. without legal status, unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
Officials didn’t say Tuesday whether HHS is still receiving children as a result of the child separation policy. When pressed about the issue by reporters on a conference all, they didn’t answer the question.
Amid an international outcry, President Donald Trump last week issued an executive order to stop the separation of families and said parents and children will instead be detained together. But so far, very few families have been reunited, and the Trump administration has disclosed almost no information on how the process will be carried out or how long it will take.
Administration officials have been casting about for more detention space for migrants, with the Pentagon drawing up plans to hold as many as 20,000 at U.S. military bases.
At the same time, the administration has asked the courts to let authorities detain families together for an extended period while their immigration cases are resolved. Under the terms of a 1997 court settlement, children must be released from detention within 20 days.
Outraged by the family separations, immigrant supporters have led protests in recent days in states such as Florida and Texas. And on Tuesday, 17 states, including New York and California, sued the Trump administration to force it to reunite the thousands of immigrant children and parents it separated at the border, as pressure mounted to reconnect families more quickly.
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