'He Didn’t Recognize Me': Migrant Parents Are Slowly Being Reunited With Their Deeply Traumatized Children 

The Trump administration has failed to meet a court-ordered deadline to reunify dozens of migrant children under the age of five with their families, which is no surprise since this entire cruel enterprise has been reckless from the start. And as Politico reports, U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw is losing patience.

“These are firm deadlines,” Sabraw said during a Tuesday hearing in a San Diego court. “They are not aspirational goals. But clearly, the Trump administration disagreed; despite the deadline, it currently maintains custody of 102 children of that age group.

More from Politico:

Of those [102 children], 59 children are eligible to reunite with their parents, the Justice Department said in a Tuesday court filing. Thirty-four parents cleared background and parentage checks, and another 25 parents had checks pending.

Four children have been reunited with parents already. Another 12 arrived at the border with parents who have been deported, but also could be eligible for reunification.

Sabraw acknowledged Tuesday that connecting children with deported parents will be complicated, but said “they are part of the class and they do deserve to be reunited.”

But even for the few families that have been reunited with their children, the reunion process has often been nightmarish and riddled with physical and emotional barriers. Most parents with children under five are released into the United States with ankle monitors to, as one Immigration and Customs Enforcement official nauseatingly put, “encourage compliance.” This is part of the same so-called “catch and release” policy that President Trump vowed to end.

The New York Times published a piece with anecdotes from some of the migrant families who were recently reunited with their children after being separated from them due to the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy. The stories are agonizing. One mother reported that her potty trained child had reverted back to diapers, while another says her children don’t call her “mami” anymore. Two mothers claimed their children no longer recognize them:

“He didn’t recognize me,” said Mirce Alba Lopez, 31, of her 3-year-old son, Ederson, her eyes welling up with tears. “My joy turned temporarily to sadness.”

For Milka Pablo, 35, it was no different. Her 3-year-old daughter, Darly, screamed and tried to wiggle free from her mother’s embrace.

“I want Miss. I want Miss,” Darly cried, calling for the social worker at the shelter where she had been living since mother and daughter were separated by federal agents at the southwestern border.

You can read more of that devastating report here.