Trump administration says reuniting separated migrant children with family may be impossible

It may not be "within the realm of the possible" to reunite thousands of migrant children separated from their families at the southern border with their parents or guardians, the Trump administration said in court filings late Friday.

The statement from the Office of Refugee Resettlement said at this point it would "destabilize the permanency of [the children's] existing home environment, and could be traumatic to the children" to remove them from the sponsor homes where they were placed after separation.

These filings come in response to an ACLU suit that returns to court Feb. 21. "The Trump administration's response is a shocking concession that it can't easily find thousands of children it ripped from parents, and doesn't even think it's worth the time to locate each of them," said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who is leading the suit. "The administration also doesn't dispute that separations are ongoing in significant numbers."

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