US: First children – family reunions

New York Times : Federal officials struggled on Tuesday to pull off a series of court-ordered reunifications between dozens of detained migrant children and their families at various sites around the country, as they rapidly shifted logistical gears and seemed to be as much improvising as carrying out a plan.

The scheduled reunions were designed to comply with a federal court deadline. Officials were moving to reunite 54 children under age 5 with their families. The children had been separated from their families at the southwest border and had been detained in shelters far from their parents, many of whom were also detained as part of President Trump’s now-defunct family separation policy.

The exact number of children who would be returned on Tuesday was still in flux, according to an official close to the operation who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The federal agency that oversees the care of migrant children, the Department of Health and Human Services, was still conducting background checks on parents until the very last moment on Tuesday morning. The final number to be reunited had changed as recently as 8 a.m. Tuesday.