EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Latest on the deadline to reunify families separated at the border (all times local):
2 p.m.
The number of families reunited in El Paso has dropped sharply this week as the deadline for the government to reunify parents forcibly separated at the border is hours away.
Annunciation House director Ruben Garcia said his organization that of one of four the government tasked with helping reunited families has received about 25 families each day this week.
Garcia said he doesn't know what to expect as the deadline nears because immigration authorities usually give him very short notice. The organization has several hospitality centers that house reunited families, but it's often for extremely short periods of time.
Garcia said children who are seeing their parents for the first time in weeks respond in different ways. Some reunite very quickly while others keep their distance and express caution.
The Trump administration is under an order to reunite by Thursday all families separated at the border amid a zero tolerance policy that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing illegally.
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1:40 p.m.
The lead attorney in the lawsuit over families separated at the border says the American Civil Liberties Union will try to track down all 463 parents who are no longer in the country.
Lee Gelernt says it's not clear whether the parents were deported or voluntarily left after they were separated from their children.
He also says it's not clear whether they willingly left without their children. He says the ACLU will seek to talk to every parent to figure out what happened.
The Trump administration has been ordered to reunite by Thursday all families separated at the border amid a zero tolerance policy that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing illegally.
The ACLU has asked the judge to delay deportation for seven days so families have time to talk.
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10:50 a.m.
Dozens of parents remain detained in the El Paso, Texas, area on the day the U.S. government is supposed finish reuniting families that it forcibly separated at the border.
Royce Murray, the policy director at the American Immigration Council, said attorneys have spoken to more than 150 detained parents in recent weeks and that many remain in detention centers around El Paso, although she didn't have an exact figure.
Murray said there's confusion about why some parents remain detained and for how much longer, but that several have said they signed orders to be deported under the belief that would be the fastest way to see their children.
Immigrant advocates described similar instances of confusion and chaos around the country as the government works to reunify still hundreds of families by Thursday's deadline.
They said some kids have been shuttled to reunite with parents only to learn their parents were not at those locations. They were then taken back to the children's' shelters where they've been staying.
Authorities have identified more than 2,500 children 5 and older who may be covered by the order to reunite the families by Thursday's court-imposed deadline.
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10:10 p.m.
Homeland Security's internal watchdog agency says it will look into the separation of families at the southern border.
The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security wrote a letter Monday to members of Congress who had requested an investigation.
More than 2,500 children were separated from their parents at the border under a zero tolerance policy that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing the border illegally. A judge ruled they must be reunited.
The inspector general's office will also review conditions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities where minors are detained.
Officials say they also reached out to the inspector general at Health and Human Services, the department that manages the care of migrant children in custody.
More than 120 lawmakers requested an investigation.
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2:35 a.m.
The Trump administration is racing to meet a court-imposed deadline to reunite families who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The enormous logistical task was brought on by the "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry.
Authorities have identified more than 2,500 children 5 and older who may be covered by the order to reunite the families by Thursday's court-imposed deadline.
That effort was expected to fall short, partly because hundreds of parents may have been deported without their children. But, by focusing only on about 1,600 it deems "eligible" for reunification, authorities are expected to claim success.
As of Tuesday, slightly more than 1,000 parents were reunified with their children in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Hundreds more were cleared and awaiting transportation.