The head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that the agency would comply with a court order to reunite parents and children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Secretary Alex Azar told reporters that his agency, which has thousands of children in its care, would "comply with the artificial deadlines created by the court, deadlines that were not informed by the process needed to vet parents, including confirming parentage, as well as determining the suitability of placement with that parent."
So far, since the court order in late June, no reunifications have taken place.
"What has not happened — because this was simply an order, unprecedented a week ago Tuesday — is to send children from our [Office of Refugee Resettlement] facilities to be reunited with their parents in [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] custody and care and to remain there," Azar said. "So that has not happened yet."
Hundreds of additional HHS personnel have been assigned to the task of reunification as deadlines loom.
On June 26, a federal court in California ordered HHS to meet the following deadlines:
July 6: Children must be in contact with parents.
July 10: Children under 5 must be reunited with parents.
July 26: All families must be reunited.
Azar said that of more than 11,800 children being held by HHS in shelters, fewer than 3,000 had been separated from parents. The rest are unaccompanied minors. He said about 100 of the separated children were 5 or under.
Azar said his agency would use "every minute of the time" remaining to be sure that people who claim to be parents of separated children are indeed parents. The task requires compiling data from Customs and Border Patrol and ICE, and then, in cases where there are disparities, following up.
Where there is no documentation, DNA samples will be used to match parents with children.
"All of this work should be done before we reunite a child with a parent. In order to meet the court's deadlines, HHS has also had to narrow its traditional focus from the comprehensive review for the safety and suitability of sponsors," Azar said.
He said ICE is moving people identified as parents closer to the shelters where their children are. When families are reunited, they will be turned over to ICE to be held in detention together.
Perhaps because of the family separation policy, the number of apprehensions at the southwest border fell during June, according to the Department of Homeland Security, from 51,905 in May to 42,565 in June — a drop of about 18 percent.
