The parents of more than 500 children separated from their families at the border during the Trump Administration are still missing despite efforts by the Biden Administration to reunite them, Jacob Soboroff of NBC News reports.

Since taking office, the Biden Administration has been able to reunite 105 children with their families.  The parents of 322 children are believed to have been deported by Trump, and 168 children’s parents are thought to be in the United States.  Whereabouts of parents for 16 are unknown.  The Trump Administration did not collect contact information for any of them.

Between 4,300 and 5,500 children were taken from their parents a the border between April 2018 and June 2018 as part of the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance” on illegal border crossings.  Many reports allege the program continued into 2019 on a limited basis although it was ruled unconstitutional by courts.

The children were held in cages in warehouses taken over by the federal agencies, a practice decried by federal agencies, political leaders and human rights organizations.  Often the children were held in group cages with limited food and water.

A December 2020 report by the Justice Department Inspector General found that the problems of the policy stemmed from a rush to implement it that did not properly plan for the reunification of families and that the long-term negative impact on children was not considered by the Trump Aministration.