Dozens of immigrant toddlers to be reunited with their parents

American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt addresses reporters after a hearing in San Diego. Photo / AP

More than 50 immigrant children under the age of five will be reunited with their parents by tomorrow's court-ordered deadline for action by Trump Administration.

The families will then be released into the US, a government lawyer said.

That's only about half of the 100 or so toddlers covered by the order.

At a court hearing, Justice Department lawyer Sarah Fabian acknowledged that the Government wouldn't meet the deadline for all the children, citing a variety of reasons, including that the parents of some of the youngsters have already been deported.

Fabian said that 54 children will be joined with their parents by the end of tomorrow at locations across the country and that an additional five were undergoing final background checks.

One child has not been matched with a parent, Fabian said. The ACLU identified him as a 3-year-old boy.

It was the first time the Government indicated whether the parents and children would be released or detained together. They will be set free in the US pending the outcome of their immigration cases, which can take several years.

Fabian didn't say why they were being released, but US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has little space to hold families.

ICE has three family detention centres with room for about 3000 people in all, and the places are already at or near capacity. The Trump Administration is trying to line up thousands more beds at military bases.

American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Gelernt told reporters he was "both pleased and disappointed" with the Government's progress towards meeting the deadline.

"Tomorrow there will hopefully be more than 50 babies and toddlers reunited with their parents, and that is obviously an enormous victory," he said. But he said those who remain split from their parents are "in for a long process."

US District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered both sides back in court tomorrow to give another update.

The ACLU was drawing up a proposal to shorten the wait for the remaining children. Gelernt said some procedures — such as DNA testing, fingerprinting and requests for other information — were designed for releasing children to distant relatives, not to parents.

More than 2000 children in all were separated from their parents by US immigration authorities at the border before US President Donald Trump reversed course on June 20 amid an international outcry and said families should remain together.

Late last month, Sabraw, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, set a 14-day deadline to reunite children under five with their parents and a 30-day deadline for older children. The 30-day deadline is up on July 26.

- AP