Under President’s “zero tolerance” policy, children were separated from their parents at the Mexico-U.S. border. It was a cruel and inhuman practice that came to end – but only after about 2,500 children had been taken away from their parents. Even after it ended, however, separated children were still dispersed throughout the country. While many families have beee reunited, this issue is far from over. Recent reports indicate that over 460 immigrant parents have already been deported without their children.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered the government to reunite both families with children under and older than the age of 5. The deadline for these reunifications is Thursday.

At the beginning of July, the Trump administration admitted that 19 immigrant parents had been deported without their children. And while 879 parents have been reunited with their children. There are still many families in crisis. 

Now, just days before the reunification deadline, the administration released a report stating that 463 parents have been deported without their children.

It is unclear how and when these families will be reunited. And in light of this fact, Judge Sabraw has ordered that all deportations be paused in order to enable more families to reunite.

Of the 2,551 children who were taken from their parents, 1,634 have been cleared to be reunited with their parents. However, hundreds of children remain separated from their mothers and fathers. 

What’s worse, these children have been spread throughout the country and may already be placed in foster care.