Children at border still being separated from relatives under Biden admin

The migrant children often arrive with a grandparent, older sibling or other relative but are separated until federal officials can confirm the accompanying adult is their relative, as required under U.S. law. The procedure, which is different from the highly controversial Trump administration policy of separating immigrant parents from their children, is designed to protect minors from human traffickers and grant them legal protections.

But it also classifies the youngsters as “unaccompanied minors” and places them in federal shelters until a sponsor or adult is vetted, a process that can take several weeks or even months.

Though not as dramatic as Trump administration-era family separations, which unleashed a furious backlash, separating children from close relatives could be equally detrimental, said Lisa Koop, associate director of legal services at the National Immigrant Justice Center, a legal advocacy group that represents young immigrants.

“It really does look and feel in many ways like a parent-child separation,” Koop said. “The trauma of the separation is very similar.”