Biden's Promise To Mexicans: Bringing Hundreds Of Parents And Children Trump Separated

JAKARTA - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised to form a task force to reunite more than 500 children separated from their families on the US-Mexico border by the Trump administration and whose parents have not been found.

Under Republican President Donald Trump, thousands of children were separated from their parents at the border, mostly in 2017 and 2018, because their parents were prosecuted for illegal entry or because of concerns about their identity or criminal history.

The separation came both before and after Trump launched a "zero tolerance" policy to prosecute all illegal border crossers in May 2018.

As a result of international protests, the policy was canceled. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the matter in 2018 and US District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, California, ordered the family to be reunited.

There are about 4,000 children who could be placed on reunification orders, but as of October 20, the parents of 545 children could not be reached by lawyers and nonprofits seeking them, according to a court filing in the San Diego case.

"On his first day as President, Joe Biden will issue an Executive Order establishing a federal task force to reunite these children with their parents," Biden said during his campaign.

Trump and Biden clashed on this issue during their final debate on October 22, ahead of the November 3 election. Asked during debate whether he had any plans to reunite the family, Trump said his administration was "working on it".

On Thursday, October 29, Trump campaign spokeswoman Courtney Parella said the government was trying to strengthen border security and was "actively working to correct the mistakes of the previous administration, identify these separated families and reunite children with their parents."

According to the ACLU, an additional 1,400 children were separated by the Trump administration but are currently not covered by the Sabraw reunification order.

ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt said there were hundreds of parents who had been in Central America but had not yet been allowed to return to the United States to reunite with their children.