As explained in last week’s Update, the president issued an Executive Order on June 20 to end the practice of separating children and their families when they enter the U.S. See The Executive Order Trump Claims Will End Family Separation, Explained (Vox, 6/21/18). The exact procedures by which children will be reunited with their families are still not clear, however. The Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin on June 23 — Fact Sheet: Zero-Tolerance Prosecution and Family Reunification – which outlines some of the steps, and reportedly the administration has created a “unaccompanied children reunification task force” to carry out the reunification process. See HHS Creates Task Force to Reunify Migrant Families (Politico, 6/22/18). See also Trump Will Reunite Separated Families — But Only If They Agree to Deportation (Vox, 6/25/18). Many Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have expressed opposition to or concern about the separation policy, and have taken steps to address the issue. (See last week’s Update.) Democrats in the House and Senate have called for committee hearings, and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate the administration’s reunification efforts.
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