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Catholic Charities prepares over weekend to reunite immigrant families

More than 2,000 immigrant children are still waiting to be reunited with their families. The children range from 5 to 17 years old.

It's a waiting game for Catholic Charities of San Antonio. The group is expecting to reunite up to 400 families that have been separated.

The non-profit has been working non-stop this weekend in preparation. They're still waiting on the arrival of these families, which could happen at any moment. The organization got a call Thursday asking if the San Antonio chapter would help reunite children with their families, and workers here said of course.

The non-profit has been collecting clothes, and has them ready. They also have case managers who are on stand-by. Some of the families were supposed to arrive on Friday, but none of them showed up.

Christina Higgs, with the non-profit, said what makes this difficult is this is uncharted territory. However, she said the first thing they want to do is welcome these families to assess their needs.

She says they will have phones ready because the first thing the majority of them will do is call back home.

Meanwhile, this comes after the Trump administration just laid out its plan to reunite more than 2,500 immigrant children with their families. In a court filing Friday, the government states it has identified the children between the ages of 5 and 17, and that it would immediately begin reuniting the older children with their families by the July 26 deadline.

According to reports, the Department of Justice reports the reunions are expected to begin on a rolling basis leading to the deadline. It is expected that the government and the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the separated families, will be back in court Monday to review the plan.

It was just this week that Catholic Charities of San Antonio helped reunite seven families.The nonprofit still needs clothing donations. Higgins said that, as of right now, they have enough volunteers.

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