How does the US Department of Health plan to help immigrant children find their parents?

According to US media reports, on July 5, US Health Secretary Alex? Alex Azar said that in order to reunite separated immigrant families within the time limit set by the court, the federal government is reviewing the cases of nearly 3,000 immigrant children cared for by the Ministry. Those minors said that they were separated from their parents when crossing the American border. In addition, the Ministry of Health plans to conduct DNA testing for children to help them find their parents.

According to reports, Azar told a Senate Subcommittee that after the Trump administration implemented the "zero tolerance" policy, 2047 children in the Ministry of Health were waiting to reunite with their parents. However, on the 5th, he said that more children will be reunited with their families, because the court ordered the Ministry of Health to return all migrant children separated from their families to their families, even those who were taken away from their parents before the "zero tolerance" policy came into effect in early May.

Azar also said that some of the nearly 3,000 detained children may not be eligible to reunite with their families because they were separated from their parents during the trip, rather than being separated by US border agents. He said, "It should be remembered that information from children may sometimes be unreliable." Azar added that the Ministry of Health is reviewing the data set of the Department of Homeland Security to verify the minors' claims.

Because it takes too long to verify the traditional method of parents claiming children through birth certificates and other documents, Azar said that the Ministry of Health will conduct DNA testing by collecting oral mucosa swabs of each child, and then match the test results with the parents' data. White, assistant minister in charge of preparedness and emergency response of the Ministry of Health, said that the DNA test results were only used for the matching procedure of parents and children.

Azar said that the Ministry of Health is currently only responsible for reuniting adults facing deportation with their children. However, as their asylum applications progress, those children will soon be reunited with their parents or family members in the detention center of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Earlier, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau gave detained immigrant parents the choice whether to leave the United States with their children.

Source: China News Network