BREAKING: In court filing, Trump administration says 719 parents of the 2,551 still-separated children have a "final order of removal," meaning they could be immediately deported after reunification.
@LindsayTozzzz of @ImmDef just told me “that's a pretty horrifying statistic."
NEW: 7 days until migrant family reunification deadline.
Government says only 14% of kids have been reunited.
1/3 of parents could be deported right after reunification.
ICE's Adelanto Processing Center in California -- where I've been twice to meet a separated father for @chrislhayes & @allinwithchris -- had "nooses in detainee cells," "improper and overly restrictive segregation," and "untimely and inadequate" medical care.
The words of an Adelanto detainee:
"I’ve seen a few attempted suicides using the braided sheets by the vents and then the guards laugh at them and call them ‘suicide failures’ once they are back from medical."
On my first trip to Adelanto to meet separated father Ascención, who said he was coerced into giving up his son, ICE didn't let me in despite knowing I was coming.
He wrote me this letter which his lawyers brought out:
"I am going crazy. I am in an inhumane situation."
Going in @ICEgov detention center in SoCal to meet still-separated dad Ascencion who signed form saying he didn’t want to be reunited with his 15 year old son — says he didn’t know what he was signing.
NEW: Trump administration says in order to reunite remaining 572 separated kids @ACLU — *not* government which separated them — should be responsible for:
- Establishing contact
- Determining desire to be reunified & written confirmation
- Attorney consultation
- Data gathering
NEW: ACLU tells me “the administration is sitting on information that will allow the parties to find these parents."
After the Trump administration suggested @ACLU should reunite remaining 572 separated kids, @mitchellreports nailed it:
"The last time I looked we did not vote for the ACLU to be running the government or DHS or anything else in this country. I think we voted for Donald Trump."
I’m in San Diego. Going into court to watch Trump administration and @ACLU meet a day after the reunification deadline.
DHS says all “eligible” parents and children are reunified but 711 kids of 2,551 were “ineligible.”
DHS didn’t commit to reuniting any of that group in US.
I’m out of court.
Judge said next step must be finding 431 “missing parents” already deported and 52 released into the US.
He‘ll soon issue an order on that and a ruling on potential 7-day stay on deportations for 1,000 (!) reunited families with executable removal orders.
The @ACLU also said in court the judge should block deportations of 120 parents who may have mistakenly waived reunification, calling it "torturous to have a parent thinking" they gave away their child in error.
Meanwhile, back at home, here's the Trump administration's flow chart plan -- filed yesterday -- to reunify the 2,551 still-separated migrant kids.
They filed it after Judge Dana Sabraw slammed HHS for what he just called, in court, "deeply troubling" pushback on reunifications.
Judge Sabraw *again* just hit the Trump administration in court, saying its pushback to the order to reunify, made by @HHSGov Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Chris Meekins, was "exasperating to put it plainly."
The Judge says the flow chart is "a good plan" and "a really good step."
He's now hearing from Commander Jonathan White of HHS, who the government's lawyer says is the "architect of the reunification plan."
They're talking about "red flags" that would prevent reunification.