“About 700 more remain separated, including 431 whose parents were deported.

SAN DIEGO — Shy children were given a meal and a plane or bus ticket to locations around the U.S. as non-profit groups tried to smooth the way for kids reunited with their parents as a deadline loomed following their separations at the U.S. Mexico border.

The Trump administration said Thursday that more than 1,800 children 5 years and older had been reunited with parents or sponsors hours before the court-ordered deadline.

That included 1,442 children who were returned to parents in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, and another 378 released under a variety of other circumstances.

But about 700 more remain separated, including 431 whose parents were deported, officials say. Those reunions take more time, effort and paperwork as authorities fly children back to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The deadline has passed and now the federal judge in San Diego who ordered the reunifications must decide how to address the hundreds of still-separated children.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.