Darwin Micheal Mejia, third from
right, and his mother, Beata Mariana
de Jesus Mejia-Mejia, right, are
escorted to a news conference after
their reunion at
Baltimore-Washington International
Thurgood Marshall Airport, Friday,
June 22, 2018, in Linthicum, Md. The
Justice Department agreed to release
Mejia-Mejia's son after she sued the
U.S. government in order to be
reunited following their separation
at the U.S. border. She has filed
for political asylum in the U.S.
following a trek from Guatemala. (AP
Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Activists
demonstrate
as a
group of
US
mayors
hold a
press
conference
outside
the
holding
facility
for
immigrant
children
in
Tornillo,
Texas,
near the
Mexican
border,
Thursday,
June 21,
2018.
About 20
mayors
from
cities
across
the
country
call for
the
immediate
reunification
of
immigrant
children
with
their
families.
(AP
Photo/Andres
Leighton)
364 of
2,551
older
children
split at
border
are
reunited
with
families By
ELLIOT
SPAGAT
and
NOMAAN
MERCHANT
SAN
DIEGO -
The
Trump
administration
said
Thursday
that it
has
reunified
364
children
ages 5
and
older
with
their
families
after
they
were
separated
at the
border,
still
leaving
hundreds
to go
before a
court-imposed
deadline
a week
away.
The
Justice
Department
reaffirmed
in a
court
filing
that it
has
identified
2,551
children
who may
be
covered
by U.S.
District
Judge
Dana
Sabraw’s
order.
More
than 900
are
either
“not
eligible
or not
yet
known to
the
eligible,”
the vast
majority
of them
undergoing
evaluation
to
verify
parentage
and
ensure
the
children
are
safe.
ACLU
attorney
Lee
Gelernt
said he
was
concerned
about
the high
number
of
children
who have
not been
cleared
for
reunification.
The
administration
and the
American
Civil
Liberties
Union
are due
back in
court
Friday
for the
fifth
time in
two
weeks as
the
judge
holds
tightly
to a
July 26
deadline
for all
children
to be
reunified.
He set
an
earlier
deadline
of July
10 for
dozens
of
children
under 5.
The
government
has
identified
eight
U.S.
Immigration
and
Customs
Enforcement
locations
to
reunify
children
5 and
older,
and
people
have
been
getting
released
throughout
the
Southwest
this
week.
The
U.S.
Conference
of
Catholic
Bishops
and
Lutheran
Immigration
and
Refugee
Service
are
taking
the lead
on
helping
families
that
have
been
released
into the
U.S. The
faith-based
groups
provide
food,
clothing,
legal
aid and
often
money
for a
bus or a
plane
ticket,
usually
for them
to join
relatives
across
the
country.
Annunciation
House in
El Paso,
Texas,
has
served
dozens
of
families.
The
shelter’s
director,
Ruben
Garcia,
said
“the
actual
reunification
process
is a
logistical
nightmare.”
On
Monday,
the
judge
put a
temporary
hold on
deporting
parents
while
the
government
prepares
a
response
to the
ACLU’s
request
for
parents
to have
at least
one week
to
decide
whether
to
pursue
asylum
in the
U.S.
after
they are
reunited
with
their
children.