It is shockingly difficult for immigration attorneys to locate children separated from their parents at the border. Today I spoke to lawyers who represent more than 400 parents. They've located two children.
Some of the bureaucratic failures are remarkable: Border Patrol agents who forgot to note that a child crossed the border with a parent. Mothers who were never given the toll-free phone number where they can ask about their kids.
US officials often don't answer that toll-free number. When attorneys get through, officials respond that their client's child is "in the United States."
In other cases, children are transferred from one shelter to another, and the new facilities don't make note that the child was separated from a parent. Meaning they could be mistakenly considered an unaccompanied minor.
Much of the government's information about the child's parent -- necessary for reunification -- comes directly from the child. What kind of information can a toddler provide? And what if that toddler speaks an obscure indigenous language?
So what do attorneys tell their clients? One lawyer at @TRLA says this: “We have to say we don’t know where your child is. The government is responsible for keeping your child safe. No parent would be satisfied with that.”
Here's the story we just published. It's clear to me that there is no plan to reunify these families. washingtonpost.com/world/the_amer…
