At least 245 children have reportedly been separated from their parents since the Trump administration ended its practice of separating families apprehended crossing the border illegally.
The Trump administration identified those separations as having occurred between June of last year and earlier this month, CNN reported Thursday, citing a court filing.
{mosads}The administration reportedly said that the basis for separating most of those children was because of “criminality, prosecution, gang affiliation or other law enforcement purpose.”
The court filing cited by CNN is a status report in an ongoing lawsuit that was originally brought last year by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), according to CNN. A hearing as part of that case is scheduled for Thursday, the network reported.
The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo who was separated from her 7-year-old daughter as they sought asylum in the U.S.
Thousands of children last year were separated at the southern border as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. Under the policy, all adult migrants who crossed the country’s southern border illegally were referred for criminal prosecution and their children were detained separately.