Trump administration unable to locate parents of 545 children separated at Mexico border

United State officials admitted on Tuesday, October 20 that authorities have been unable to locate the parents of 545 children who were separated at the southern border of the country. As per reports, the immigrant children were separated between July 1, 2017, and June 26, 2018, as per the Trump administration's policy. However, in 2018, a federal judge in San Diego had ordered for the children in government custody to be reunited with their parents.

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Parents of over 500 children cannot be located

According to The Associated Press reports, the children who were separated from their parents during that time are difficult to reunite because the US government doesn't have adequate means of tracking people. Since then, volunteers have tried to track down the parents by going from door to door in Guatemala and Honduras.

In total 2,700 children were reportedly separated from their parents under the Trump administration's plan. The move resulted in international outrage when parents were unable to locate their children after long periods of time.

It is believed that almost 2/3 of the parents of the 545 children have returned to their country of origin and in an effort to find them volunteers have undertaken time-consuming on ground searches. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced these searches into a hiatus but they are reported to have once again started in a limited capacity.

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US Supreme Court To Review Legality Of Border policy

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court has decided to review the Trump administration’s contentious Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) programme. As per reports, while no date has been declared as of yet, the court will be reviewing the legality of the MPP programme in the case Wolf, Secretary of Homeland [Security], et al. V. Innovation Law Lab, et al.

As per the MPP program also known as the 'Remain in Mexico', enforced in January 2019, asylum seekers are made to wait in Mexico while the appeals are considered by the US. In February, a US court of appeals had blocked the implementation of the MPP program but its decision was overruled by the Supreme Court and the programme was allowed to stay in effect while its legality was being reviewed. During its judgement, the court of appeals stated that the MPP program was inconsistent with US and international laws, as per reports.

Under the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, more than 60,000 asylum seekers are reported to have been sent to Mexico and as per Justice Department estimates there are 25,000 people still waiting for hearings at US courts. The hearings have been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. The ‘Remain in Mexico’ programme has become an integral part of the Trump administration's plan to tackle the surge of asylum-seeking families at the southern border.

(With AP inputs, Image AP)

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