Washington D.C., Feb 5, 2019 / 15:51 pm
In a court filing last week, the Trump administration argued that it may not be possible to reunite thousands of migrant parents with their children, who are living in sponsor homes, and that such reunions could be "disruptive and harmful" to the children.
"It would destabilize the permanency of their existing home environment, and could be traumatic to the children," said Jonathan White, deputy director for children's programs at the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to the Associated Press.
He argued that removing children from sponsor homes "would present grave child welfare concerns" and said the agency should focus its resources on reuniting children in government custody with their parents, rather than children who are currently with sponsors.
Last May, the Department of Homeland Security began referring all people crossing the U.S. border illegally to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. As a result, thousands of families were separated, as children cannot legally be held in federal jails with their parents.