“DHS has taken every step to facilitate the reunification of these families where the parents wanted such reunification to occur. After contact was made with the parents to reunite them with their children, many parents have refused. Out of the parents of 485 children whose plaintiff’s counsels have been able to contact, they have yet to identify a single family that wants their child reunited with them in their country. The result is the children remain in the U.S. while their parents remain in the home country.”
It is not clear if these children arrived with their parents, who were then returned home, or if, as President Trump asserted, they had come with coyotes or human traffickers. Either option is possible, as Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) started getting aggressive about identifying minors who were with adults who were not their parents. One pilot program using a rapid DNA test found 30% of children were with an unrelated adult.
CNN fact-checked the former Vice President during the Democrat primary when he claimed the Obama administration had not put children in cages or separated families. According to CNN, the administration separated families when the parent was charged with a crime or if human trafficking was suspected.
The bigger problem was unaccompanied minors and human trafficking. In 2014, the number arriving swelled to 60,000, causing the media to dub it a crisis. That is the period of time when the cages were built, and the Obama administration grappled with how to handle the flow of minor children, usually transferred by coyotes. According to a White House press release, abuse is rampant during the journey, with 30% of migrants suffering from sexual abuse and 70% being subjected to violence.
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