Where are the Parents of these 545 Minors

BURBANK, CA – The zero-tolerance policy implemented under the Trump administration has separated thousands of families. Three years later, lawyers and the Trump administration have issues locating the parents of kids who are still in detention centers.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, many parents were deported back to Central America.

There are two-thirds of parents deported, according to the Department of Homeland security.

ACLU estimates that after Trump took office, his administration separated around 5,400 children.

(Credit PublicDomainPictures // Sad Child)

As Trump cracked down on illegal immigration, these parents came with their kids to cross into the United States illegally to seek asylum. As parents arrived with their kids at the border, the parents were persecuted and separated from their kids. Children as young as infants are among those whose parents can not be located.

The reason behind this is that the parents were sent back in such a rush that there was no contact information collected, or in other cases, the contact information is outdated. However, there are additional challenges that authorities face when trying to locate the parents.

Many of the children who were separated only speak native dialects like Mayan. As in-person investigations continued, language and gang dominated areas made looking for the parents in Central America much more complicated.

With the ongoing pandemic, they have had to stop, according to Dora Melara, a Honduran human rights defender.

This included taking down their information and, in many cases, fingerprints. DHS also mentioned working with the Department of Human Health and Services to communicate and locate family members. According to a Congressional Research Service report, immigrant groups argue that these families fled their countries to escape gang violence. Other reports show that information that would provide the parent-child link was destroyed in some cases.

By: Miriam Frutos Rodriguez

Contribution: NBC News

Photo: Public Domain Pictures

Audio: Miriam Frutos Rodriguez (commentary)

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