Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
All Eligible Children Under 5 Reunited With Families, But Thousands Of Older Kids Still In Custody
The Trump administration said on Thursday that it had reunified all the migrant children under the age of 5 it determined were eligible to be returned to their parents, part of a court order to reunite the children who were separated from their families at the border. Officials said that 57 of the 103 children had been reunited with their families as of Thursday morning. An additional 46 children remain in government custody because they have been found ineligible to be returned to their families for various reasons. (Nixon and Jordan, 7/12)
As of this morning, the initial reunifications were completed. Throughout the reunification process our goal has been the well-being of the children and returning them to a safe environment, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a joint statement. (Weixel, 7/12)
Attorneys seeking to reunify migrant children separated from their parents at the southern border said Thursday that they were not able to verify the Trump administrations claim that nearly five dozen children had been returned to their parents. (Kullgren, 7/12)
The U.S. officials said 46 of the children were not eligible to be reunited with their parents; a dozen parents had already been deported and were being contacted by the administration. Nine were in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service for other offenses. One adults location was unknown, they said. Of the deported parents, officials said they had chosen to leave their children behind. One deported father, however, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week that he didnt realize what he was doing when he signed the paperwork to leave his child behind. It wasnt clear if he was one of the dozen; no names have been made public. (Long, 7/12)
Court records show that 22 children were not returned because of safety concerns posed by the adults with whom they had been traveling. Eleven of the adults had serious criminal histories, such as kidnapping and murder, said Chris Meekins, chief of staff for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, which is aiding in the reunification effort. One adult was convicted of child cruelty and narcotics charges. For the others, the case outcomes remain unclear: Meekins said one adult has been charged with human smuggling, another faces domestic violence charges, one father has an outstanding drunken driving charge in Florida, and another adult is wanted for murder in Guatemala. Others have similar convictions or charges filed against them, officials said. (Sacchetti, 7/12)
Authorities will now move to reunite the more than 2,000 older minors who remain apart from their relatives, a process a judge has said must be completed by the end of the month. The government will take steps to screen parents to determine whether they are eligible for reunification, so it isnt clear how many children will be reconnected with their families. (Gurman and Campo-Flores, 7/12)
Public outrage over the separations led President Donald Trump to retreat last month from his "zero-tolerance" policy toward unlawful border crossings. Under the approach, parents and other caregivers apprehended after traversing the border were arrested and jailed, and the government placed their children with HHS. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw had ordered the administration to reunite all children under age 5 from their parents by July 10. The court has also required the administration to reunite the much larger group of older children by July 26. (Sink, 7/12)
Detaining immigrant children has morphed into a surging industry in the U.S. that now reaps $1 billion annually a tenfold increase over the past decade, an Associated Press analysis finds. Health and Human Services grants for shelters, foster care and other child welfare services for detained unaccompanied and separated children soared from $74.5 million in 2007 to $958 million in 2017. The agency is also reviewing a new round of proposals amid a growing effort by the White House to keep immigrant children in government custody. (Mendoza and Fenn, 7/12)
A defense contractor admitted it occasionally held separated migrant children overnight at an unlicensed Phoenix facility, apparently contradicting earlier claims that it had used the office building only for short stopovers while transporting children, according to a report from Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. (Philip, 7/12)
