'And now we are alone': Extended family separated at border

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 12-year-old boy entered the U.S. from Mexico with his brother and uncle, fleeing violence in Guatemala, but is now without them in a packed Texas border facility. Honduran sisters, 8 and 6, were taken from their grandmother when they arrived. An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy was separated from his aunt and cousin.

One year after President Donald Trump ended his widely criticized practice of separating migrant children from their parents, his administration is again under fire for a different kind of family separation crisis — one involving extended families.

Unlike last year, when at least 2,700 children were separated from their parents under a "zero tolerance" program, these minors have been taken from aunts, uncles and grandparents under a policy meant to guard against human trafficking. This policy has been the practice for years — long before Trump became president. But the recent surge in families trying to cross the border suggests children are being separated from relatives much more frequently, and because of systemic delays, they are held without caregivers longer.

Some are being kept in the U.S. Border Patrol facility in Clint, Texas , where advocates, attorneys and lawmakers have described overcrowded, fetid conditions and children as young as infants being held for weeks.

"We are housed in a room with dozens of other children, some as young as 2," the 12-year-old boy said in a declaration filed last week with a federal court seeking to require inspections of the facilities . "Many do not have their parents with them. I have to take care of many of the other children who are sad and cry. I do my best to help other children who are sad."

The 8-year-old Honduran girl said in a declaration that she and her sister were taken from their...