The Department of Justice filed a motion on Thursday night asking to extend the deadline for reuniting migrant children and parents separated at the United States-Mexico border, the Los Angeles Times reports.
This request came after United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said that officials were working to meet the deadlines set out by a federal judge last week, which he called “extreme.”
The judge had ordered the Trump administration to reunite the families, which were separated as a result of its “zero tolerance” policy, by July 26th, and to reunite children under the age of five with their parents by July 10th.
The Department of Health and Human Services is using a DNA verification process to quickly confirm family relationships, but the Times reports that “the government worries that some cases could prove to be more complex and might not be verified by the imposed deadline.”
