All eligible migrant children under the age of five will be reunited with their parents by Thursday, according to a Wednesday Reuters report.
Some of the children, however, were not eligible for reunification because a parent was deported or had a criminal record, according to the Reuters article.
The ACLU, which sued the government for the reunification has doubts about the administration’s claims.
“Their statement is vague at a minimum,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt told Reuters. (RELATED: Pressure Builds On Democrats To Attack Immigration Enforcement)
The administration, however, says that the hold-up was to confirm paternity and perform background checks on the parents to ensure that it was safe for the children to be reunited, according to the Reuters article.
U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw previously ordered the administration to reunite children under five by Tuesday. In a hearing that same day, the Trump administration told the Court that they would not meet the deadline, citing the need to perform background checks on the adults and confirm parentage, according to Bloomberg.
The government must persuade Sabraw on Thursday if it has complied with the court order by 3 p.m. He asked the ACLU to draw up possible penalties if he finds that the government was not in compliance, the Reuters article stated.
Sabraw’s court ruling mandates that all separated children be returned to their families by July 26, the Reuters article states. The administration is expected to give a progress update toward that goal on Thursday and a plan for reunification on Friday.
The Trump administration has come under fire for its separation of migrant children from their parents at the border under the administration’s zero tolerance policy, which prosecutes all illegal immigrants who enter the country.
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