{"slug":"trump-family-separation-zero-tolerance-statistics","title":"Zero Tolerance: 5,500+ Children Separated, HHS Lost Track of Hundreds","date":"2018-04-06","lastUpdated":"2020-10-02","description":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the 'zero tolerance' family separation policy on April 6, 2018, directing federal prosecutors to criminally charge all adults crossing the border unlawfully — meaning children accompanying them would be separated and placed in HHS custody. More than 5,500 children were ultimately separated. The Trump administration did not create a tracking system linking parents to children; when a federal court ordered reunification in June 2018, the government could not locate hundreds of parents. As of 2020, 628 children had parents who could not be found.","summary":"Zero tolerance created systematic family separation as deliberate policy — not incidentally but intentionally, with separation designed as a deterrent. The administration did not build a system to track which children belonged to which parents. A federal judge ordered reunification within 30 days; the government said it could not comply. By October 2020, the ACLU reported that 628 children had parents who still could not be found — many of whom had been deported to Central America without their children, without being told where their children were.","category":"civil-rights","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/trump-immigration-children-executive-order.html","title":"Trump Retreats on Separating Families, but Thousands May Remain Apart","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/21/family-separation-628-parents/","title":"628 children's parents still haven't been found, lawyers say","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-border-family-separation-policy-zero-tolerance-statistics","title":"Trump's family separation policy — by the numbers","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/more-5500-children-were-separated-under-trump-family-separation-policy","title":"More Than 5,500 Children Were Separated Under Trump Family Separation Policy","publisher":"ACLU"},{"url":"https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2020-hhs-oig-report-unaccompanied-children.pdf","title":"HHS OIG Report on Unaccompanied Children During Family Separation","publisher":"U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["family-separation","zero-tolerance","children","immigration","first-term","human-rights","Sessions","Miller"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2018-04-06","title":"Sessions announces zero tolerance","summary":"Attorney General Sessions announces the zero tolerance policy, directing all U.S. Attorney's offices along the southern border to prosecute all adults crossing unlawfully. The criminal prosecution process means adults are taken to federal court while their children are transferred to HHS as 'unaccompanied minors.'"},{"date":"2018-05-01","title":"Policy implemented; separations escalate","summary":"Separations increase dramatically. Approximately 2,000 children are separated in the first six weeks of implementation. The government has no tracking system linking separated children to their parents."},{"date":"2018-06-18","title":"ProPublica audio published","summary":"ProPublica publishes audio of children crying in a Border Patrol detention facility as agents mock them. The recording becomes a turning point in public pressure to end the policy."},{"date":"2018-06-20","title":"Trump signs executive order","summary":"Trump signs an executive order nominally ending family separation, under intense bipartisan political pressure. He and administration officials blame Democrats for the policy, despite it being initiated by executive action."},{"date":"2018-06-26","title":"Federal court orders reunification","summary":"Judge Dana Sabraw in the Southern District of California orders the government to reunify all separated children with their parents within 30 days and to stop separating families. The government acknowledges it cannot meet the court's timeline."},{"date":"2020-10-02","title":"ACLU: 628 parents still cannot be found","summary":"ACLU lawyers report to the court that 628 separated children still have parents who cannot be located. Many parents were deported without their children; others' contact information had not been preserved."}],"location":{"name":"U.S.-Mexico Border","lat":31.3,"lng":-110.9},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"probable","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Convention on the Rights of the Child","article":"Article 9","provision":"States shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child"},{"statute":"Convention on the Rights of the Child","article":"Article 3","provision":"In all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration"},{"statute":"International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights","article":"Article 23","provision":"The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State"},{"statute":"UN Convention Against Torture","article":"Article 16","provision":"Intentional family separation causing severe psychological suffering to children and parents constitutes cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment"}],"iccRelevance":true,"victims":"5,500+ children forcibly separated from parents; hundreds of parents deported without their children; families permanently separated; children subjected to trauma in detention","structuredVictims":[{"name":"Unnamed children — 5,500+","group":"Children of asylum seekers and migrants","status":"Separated from parents under zero tolerance; hundreds not yet reunited as of 2020"}],"structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; authorized and repeatedly defended the policy","institution":"White House"},{"name":"Jeff Sessions","role":"Attorney General; announced and implemented zero tolerance","institution":"Department of Justice"},{"name":"Kirstjen Nielsen","role":"DHS Secretary; denied policy was 'zero tolerance family separation' while implementing it","institution":"Department of Homeland Security"},{"name":"Stephen Miller","role":"Senior Advisor; identified as architect of the policy","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-10-02","summary":"Updated with 628 parents not found ACLU report."}]}}