This article from the New York Times tells the stroy of Mirian, and other parents, who arrived to the U.S. from Central American and whose children were taken from them upon arrival. "Officials have repeatedly declined to provide data on how many families have been separated, but suggested that the number was relatively low," says the article. But data reviewed by the New York Times indicates that over 700 children have been separated from the adults claiming to be their parents since October 2017, 100 of them under the age of four.
"Children removed from their families are taken to shelters run by nongovernmental organizations," says the author. "There, workers seek to identify a relative or guardian in the United States who can take over the child’s care. But if no such adult is available, the children can languish in custody indefinitely." The article posits that this mass separation of families is part of new government policy to deter immigrantion to the United States