California Prepares Lawsuit Over Family Separation Policy
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A senior Trump Administration official told the Associated Press about 500 of the nearly 2,300 children separated from their families were back with their parents Thursday night.
The move comes as the state of California prepares to sue the administration, claiming separating families who enter the country illegally violates due process.
There are hundreds of children detained at the border, whose parents still have no idea where they have been placed tonight.
The U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement is in charge of housing the thousands of migrant children separated from their families.
The agency has contracts with 100 children's shelters in 17 states across the country.
Northern California facilities include BCSF in Fairfield, Southwest Key in Pleasant Hill, and the Yolo County Juvenile Hall in Woodland.
There are eight facilities across California with federal contracts, according to the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports 100 immigrant children separated from their families are being housed in California.
The federal government is not confirming those numbers.
"Many of those parents clearly do not know where their children are," State Senator Kevin De Leon said. "Some have been deported to their native countries without their children. This is tantamount to kidnapping."
A day after the president's executive order reversing his separation policy, the plan on how to reunite all the children taken from their families is not clear.
"You know, I think that there is currently no system in place to reunite children with parents who are in detention," former director of Office of Refugee Resettlement Bob Carey said.
Protesters rallied for a third day outside the Sacramento federal building over the zero tolerance policy.
"We do a better job tracking packages than we do tracking these kids. Parents, the government, politicians, no one knows where they are," protester Kelly Wilkerson said. "I'm worried about them."
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced plans to join nine states filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the family separation policy.
In a statement, Becerra wrote, "...these children, their parents, and people around the world need answers regarding what comes next."
The Department of Health and Human Services has now asked for housing on military bases for up to 20,000 migrant children. The Department of Defense has agreed to it.
