Judge: “Great progress” reuniting families split at border

A federal judge says the Trump administration is making “great progress” toward meeting a Thursday deadline to reunite more than 2,500 children with their families after they were separated at the border.

Justice Department attorneys said Friday that 450 children 5 and older had been reunified, up from 364 a day earlier.

There are still hundreds to go. In a court filing Thursday, the administration said about 1,600 parents were believed “eligible” and about 900 were “not eligible or not yet known to be eligible.”

The vast majority of ineligible are being vetted.

It appeared unlikely that all would be reunified by Thursday. More than 200 parents have been released into the United States and parents of an unknown number have been deported.