Watchdog: Thousands more migrant children separated from parents than previously known
By Nathaniel Weixel - 01/17/19 10:53 AM EST
The Trump administration separated thousands more migrant children from their parents than was previously known, according to a government watchdog.
According to a Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General report, thousands of children may have been separated from their parents during an influx that began in 2017, including many separations months before the policy was announced.
HHS has reunited thousands of children identified in a federal lawsuit, but there are many more who were separated before that point, and the total number is unknown, according to the report.
A federal judge in June ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to identify and reunite all separated children. As a result, the agency identified 2,737 children who were separated from their parents and placed into HHS custody.
According to the report, HHS has faced significant challenges in identifying separated children, including a lack of a central database that could track separations across HHS and the Department of Homeland Security.
This developing report will be updated.
https://thehill.com/latino/425828-watchdog-thousands-more-migrant-children-separated-from-parents-than-previously-known
