Key takeaways

• Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy has separated more than 5,000 migrant children from parents at the US border.
• Hundreds of these families are still not reunited, according to task-force data and rights groups.
• A court settlement requires the US to keep reuniting families and restrict border separations until at least 2031.
• Advocates want permanent protection and stricter legal limits on family separation in immigration cases.

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A Trump administration immigration policy at the US-Mexico border has separated thousands of migrant families, and rights groups say many children are still living apart from their parents years later. Government records show more than 5,000 children were removed from parents between 2017 and early 2021, and hundreds of families have not yet been reunited.

The “zero tolerance” policy ordered criminal prosecution of almost all adults who crossed the border illegally. Parents were sent to federal custody while children were treated as “unaccompanied minors” and moved into shelters, which often broke contact between family members.

A federal task force created later has been working to find parents, match records and bring families back together. US officials say they have reunited thousands of children and parents and are offering support such as temporary legal status, counseling and help with housing and travel.

Under a court settlement, the government has agreed to continue reunifications and limit the use of family separation at the border until at least 2031. Lawyers say this deal is meant to stop any future administration from restarting large-scale separations as an enforcement tool.

Advocacy groups and medical experts say the policy has caused long-term harm to children, including trauma and mental health problems. They argue that the US could have used alternatives, such as family case management, to keep people in the legal process without breaking up families.

The US government says it now focuses on keeping families together while still enforcing immigration law. Human rights groups are pressing for permanent legal status for separated families and stronger legal limits on when children can be taken from parents in immigration cases.