Illinois lawmakers blast Trump on immigrant family reunification efforts

Illinois lawmakers keep blasting the Trump administration, saying hundreds of immigrant children still haven't been reunited with their parents.

This despite Thursday’s court ordered deadline to get the job done.

With a rush of reunions before midnight Thursday, the feds say they returned 1, 442 children to their families. But by many counts, more than 700 migrant children are still being held in facilities around the country, including Illinois.

“How many court orders does the Trump administration need to reunite these families?” said Senator Tammy Duckworth.

Senator Duckworth accuses The Department of Health and Human Services of stonewalling her attempts to visit a suburban facility facing allegations of mistreating some migrant children.

“What are they hiding? Are things actually worse than we know?” Duckworth said.

Three Democratic congressmen did visit a south side facility run by Heartland Alliance, saying the children there appear well cared for but not where they should be.

“We took these children from their parents and we have a moral and legal obligation to find their parents wherever they are,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi.

Among the children still separated, about 430 have parents who've been deported.

Ed Yonkha from the ACLU of Illinois believes some families will never be back together.

“The truth is that this is a stain on our country's history,” he said.

The ACLU and Democratic lawmakers promise to keep pushing for all families to be reunited.