A deported Guatemalan immigrant has been separated from his son for months. A legal team that includes Michael Avenatti is trying to reunite them in Texas.
Families Divided
President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy drew sharp rebukes after it was announced in April 2018 — especially after children who had been separated from their parents started being placed in a tent city in Tornillo. Trump signed an executive order June 20 that would keep immigrant families together, but it’s unclear how — or if — families that have already been separated will be reunited. With support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, The Texas Tribune has been reporting on the issue from the Texas-Mexico border, Washington, D.C., and Austin. You can help by sending story tips to tips@texastribune.org.
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Families Divided
Analysis: An old headline lingers on the Texas-Mexico border
More than two months after the president ended the “zero tolerance” policy on the border, more than 400 of the kids separated from their migrant parents remain in U.S. custody. Dozens of them won’t be reunited with their parents.
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Families Divided
Across the country, basements, offices and hotels play short-term host to people in ICE custody
The temporary holding facilities often come as a surprise to the unsuspecting civilians who work or live nearby.
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Families Divided
ACLU claims ICE still detaining some asylum-seekers for no reason despite court order
A U.S. district judge last month granted a preliminary injunction preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from denying parole to asylum-seekers without an individual determination as to why. On Tuesday, the ACLU said it’s still happening.
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Families Divided
Gallery: This Guatemalan family hasn’t seen their 8-year-old in months
A collection of photos by Carlos Sebastián for Nómada and Michael Stravato for the Tribune shows David Xol and Florinda Bol in Guatemala and the Texas facility where their son has been held since late May.
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Families Divided
“Where is my son?”: A migrant father was deported in May. His son is still in a Texas shelter.
David Xol and his 7-year-old son, Byron, spent three days in a wooden crate on their way to the U.S. in May. After being separated from his son at the border, Xol was sent back to a remote village in the highlands of Guatemala. He has no idea when Byron is coming home.
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Families Divided
Border lawyers still dealing with fallout from family separations
One attorney who has been helping immigrants in the Rio Grande Valley says it’s like “being in a MASH unit.” More than 500 children are still separated from their parents.
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Families Divided
Judge says reunited migrant families can now face a choice: Stay locked up together, or separate again
The Justice Department asked for the order to ensure that migrant parents who would otherwise have been detained can’t “bootstrap a right to release” just because they’re reunited with their children.
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Families Divided
After “disturbance” at immigrant detention center, 16 migrant fathers taken away overnight
Federal officials have given few details. Activists have called it a “horrifying scene.”
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Families Divided
Asylum-seekers say they cross the border illegally because they don’t think they have other options
Asylum-seekers start on the path to an illegal crossing long before they actually reach the banks of the Rio Grande, relying on advice from an informal network of well-meaning friends and often-unscrupulous smugglers.