WASHINGTON: A US task force has been set up to reunify migrant families divided at the Mexican border under President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” approach, a report said, as opposition Democrats on Saturday kept up the pressure against a “barbaric” policy.

Trump on Wednesday ordered an end to the family separations which have sparked domestic and global outrage, but the fate of the more than 2,300 separated children remains unclear.

US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar issued an order on Friday to create the reunification task force, the Politico website reported, citing an internal document it had obtained.

Reflecting the breadth and complexity of the challenge, the document orders the department’s preparedness and response office — which deals with emergencies and public health disasters — to assist its refugee resettlement office with the effort.

Politico quoted HHS spokesperson Evelyn Stauffer as saying that Azar was “bringing to bear all the relevant resources of the department in order to assist in the reunification or placement of unaccompanied alien children and teenagers with a parent or appropriate sponsor”.

The department did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

In an effort to staunch the flow of tens of thousands of migrants from Central America and Mexico arriving at the southern boundary every month, Trump in early May had ordered that all those crossing the border illegally would be arrested, and their children held separately as a result.

In an about-face, he then ordered an end the splitting up of parents and children, saying it was administration policy to “maintain family unity... where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources”.

“I didn’t like the sight or the feeling of families being separated,” he said.

About 500 children have already been reunited with family members, CNN reported, quoting border officials.

Democratic lawmakers kept up the pressure on Saturday, with roughly two dozen of them again visiting a detention facility where children are being held.

Jackie Speier, a California congresswoman, toured the facility in McAllen, Texas, with the group. In a televised news conference, she said she saw children “under the age of five who were segregated from their parents and were crying... They’re in cells and in cages”.

Another California congresswoman, Barbara Lee, added: “The children especially are traumatised,” and she called the Trump administration’s immigration policy “barbaric”.

Protest marches were scheduled this weekend in several cities, and advocacy groups including the Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union are calling for a nationwide “Families Belong Together” protest on June 30.

It remains unclear how quickly reunifications can be carried out. Lawyers working to bring families back together said they were struggling through a labyrinthine process — while more migrants continue to arrive.

The Pentagon is making contingency plans to house thousands of arrivals on US military bases. Defence Department officials said as many as 20,000 could be sheltered on bases in Texas, Arkansas and New Mexico if need be.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2018