Immigrant Family Reunification By The Numbers

By Alfonso Serrano Jul 27, 2018

The Trump administration announced Thursday (July 26) that it would meet a court-ordered deadline to reunite thousands of children separated from their parents at the United States-Mexico border. But questions remained around more than 400 children whose parents have been deported. Here is a breakdown of where the family reunification process currently stands.

2,500
rntThis is the number of immigrant children separated from their parents before President Donald Trump was pushed to halt the "zero tolerance" immigration practice of criminally prosecuting parents crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

1,820
rntAs of late Thursday (July 26), some 1,820 children age 5 and older had been successfully reunited with their parents or guardians, according to U.S. government officials.

103
rntNumber of children under age 5 who were separated from their parents upon crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Officials say they have returned 58 of them to their parents. The remaining children are reportedly ineligible for reunification because their parents were deported or deemed unsafe due to criminal records.

711
rntMore than 700 children age 5 and older remain separated from their parents, U.S. officials say.

431
rntThe number of children whose parents have been deported since the Trump administration’s "zero tolerance" immigration policy was put in place, according to government officials.

On Friday, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed the lawsuit that challenged family separations, will meet with U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego to discuss how to reunite the remaining 711 children.

"I think it’s just going to be really hard detective work and hopefully we’re going to find them," ACLU attorney Lee Galernt told The Associated Press, referring to the parents who have been deported.

ACLU lawyers on Friday will also argue before Sabraw that reunited parents should be given stays of deportation for an additional week so they can decide if they want to fight their deportation orders or leave their children in the U.S.