Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Azar Blames 'Broken Immigration System' As HHS Struggles To Meet Court-Ordered Deadline For Reuniting Families
The Trump administration, in a race to comply with a court order to reunite up to 3,000 children with adult family members who crossed the border illegally, said Thursday it is encountering significant logistical hurdles. The federal government has until Tuesday to reunite children younger than 5 years old with their parents, under a court order issued last week by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego. Older minors must be reconnected with their parents by July 26, the federal judge ruled. (Radnofsky and Campo-Flores, 7/5)
The complications could mount once HHS transfers the kids to their parents' detention centers and as the furor and litigation rage in the fallout of the Trump administration policy. In addition to the lawsuit that led to the recent court order鈥攐riginally filed in February by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a Congolese immigrant family鈥17 Democratic attorneys general have lodged a separate lawsuit that names Azar, HHS, ORR and other departments and administration officials as defendants. (Luthi, 7/5)
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says it is reviewing the cases of 鈥渦nder 3,000鈥 children who may have been separated from their parents or families at the U.S. border. HHS officials are trying to whittle that number down further to identify the children who were actually separated from their parents by the U.S. government 鈥 as opposed to other circumstances before they came to the U.S. 鈥 ahead of a court-imposed deadline to reunite children with their families. (Hellmann, 7/5)
About 100 children under the age of 5 will be reunited with their families next week after聽getting separated by authorities at the U.S. border, officials said Thursday.聽The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must reunite the children under 5 by聽Tuesday to comply with a court order handed down last month.聽(Hellmann, 7/5)
The Trump administration is conducting DNA tests to reunite children separated from their parents at the border. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said聽Thursday that the agency is using the "faster"聽and more accurate method in order to comply with聽a court order to reunite聽children aged 4 and under with families by July 10, and children aged 5 to 17 by July 26. (Hellmann, 7/5)
