The Biden Government reunites 400 migrant families separated at the border by the Trump Administration

By Julia Ainsley and Jacob Soboroff -

The Biden administration has reunited 400 children with their parents after they were separated as migrants crossing the southern border under the Trump administration, said Michelle Brané, executive director of the Family Reunification Task Force. 

More than 5,000 families were separated under Trump's 2018 zero-tolerance policy and a 2017 pilot program, and activists estimate that more than 1,000 remain separated.

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Because the Trump Administration failed to keep records on which children were separated and where they were sent, the task force and attorneys for the separated families have had a difficult time identifying families to offer them the opportunity for reunification.

June reported a decrease in the number of migrants detained at the border

July 31, 202201:46

In most of the recently reunited cases, according to Brané, the parents were deported while the children remained in the United States.

Parents now have the opportunity to come to the United States on paid trips, bring other dependent family members, and live and work in the United States legally for three years.

Lawyers for the families have argued for permanent legal status on behalf of the separated families, but the Biden administration has so far not agreed to that provision. 

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Brané said reunification also includes mental health services for families, both before and after reunification.

He said many of the families have suffered profound mental health problems after their separation and counseling is often needed before reunification. 

“You don't want to throw kids into an environment with a parent they may not have seen for five years,” Brané said. 

Yudissa hugs her son and daughter at the airport in Tampa, Florida, on June 20, 2021, where they were reunited after years apart.Miles4Migrants

President Joe Biden signed an executive order shortly after taking office establishing a task force to find and reunite separated families, and the task force began reuniting families in May 2021. Previously, other families were reunited on their own or with the help of lawyers.

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Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) representing the separated families in a class action lawsuit, said: “We are excited for the hundreds of children who will finally be with their parents after all. these years, but we are not even halfway to reuniting all the families that continue to be separated by the Trump administration.”

“And in fact, we still haven't located almost 200 families.

I think the Biden Administration would agree that there is still a lot of work to be done," he added.