By Curtis Brodner
(WASHINGTON) An investigation from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found the Trump administration in 2017 and 2018 deported at least 348 parents without their children, Mother Jones reported.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t document whether the parents had agreed to be separated, but the OIG did find evidence that the agency deported parents who explicitly stated they wanted to bring their children with them.
The OIG investigation was carried out in response to a class action lawsuit from parents who claim they were deported without their children.
Until this point, DHS has denied the allegations and repeatedly claimed all parents who were deported without their children chose to leave their kids behind.
Then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said under oath in congressional testimony on Dec. 20, 2018: “Every parent had the choice to bring the child back with them when they were removed. The ones who did not bring the children with them made the choice not to have the child accompany them.”
This report contradicts that claim.
In some cases, the report found woefully inadequate record keeping lead to deportations based on assurances that may never have existed. In other instances ICE intentionally removed parents without their children against their will, OIG determined.
More than 5,500 families were separated during the Trump administration. DHS has attempted to reunite these families since the policy ended in 2018, but over 1,000 families remained separated as of May, 2021, according to PBS.