More than 500 immigrant children have been brought together by the Joe Biden administration’s task force to find families separated from their minor children as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy on the border, the Homeland Security secretary said Friday. , Alejandro Mayorkas.
“This is a significant milestone that reflects the tireless dedication of many public servants at the Department of Homeland Security and throughout the federal government, including those in the Departments of Health and Human Services, State and Justice,” Mayorkas said in a statement. “This is a milestone that we could not have achieved without the partnership and critical work of several incredibly committed non-governmental organizations.”
There are still some 200 immigrant children in the process of being reunited with their families. Mayorkas said.
The Biden-Harris Administration Family Reunification Task Force created for this task had previously identified 3,855 children in total who would qualify for government-assisted reunification, according to the task force’s last formal progress report in July.
Since then, the administration has contacted about 150 more families who are eligible but they haven’t responded yet. Prior to the establishment of the task force, some 2,260 known immigrant children had been reunited with their families.
Immigrant family reunification work is done in connection with international non-governmental organisations, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Those human rights workers have spread out across Central America, traveling more than 62,000 miles to find parents who were separated from their children at the border and deported.
We will continue to work tirelessly to fulfill President Biden’s commitment to reunite children separated from their families at the US-Mexico border.”
Alexander Mayorkas, DHS Secretary
Humanitarian Parole
Those admitted for reunification receive humanitarian parole for three years to live and work in the United States.
The status is similar to that received by those who fled Afghanistan and Ukraine in the past year.
The administration continues to operate two websites: Together.gov and Juntos.gov, where families can register to verify their eligibility.
So far, the government has registered some 1,550 families. Once determined eligible, families submit the required documentation to receive parole, allowing them to enter the United States.