We’ve reached the court-ordered deadline for the Trump administration to reunify families separated under its zero-tolerance policy. Expect federal officials and government attorneys to argue that they have returned all “eligible” children to their parents.

Expect them to reason that, by doing so, they met the deadline imposed by Southern District of California Judge Dana Sabraw.

Don’t believe the hype.

For hundreds of migrant families, there were no emotional, long-awaited reunions on Thursday. No fervent embraces at the airport. No wrenching tears as dazed children and desperate parents clasp each other after weeks — or months — apart. There is still much uncertainty, much fear and many questions.

EDITORIAL: Forget law and order at the border. Trump wants pain.

RELATED: Feds will miss deadline for reuniting families separated at border, advocates say

OPINION: DNA paternity tests at the border reveal a technodystopian tale

As of Thursday evening, the government said it had released 1,820 children, between the ages of 5 and 17, categorized as “eligible” for reunification by the July 26 deadline, from its care — 1,442 reunited with parents in immigration custody and 378 discharged in “other appropriate circumstances.” That still left another 711 the government has categorized as “ineligible” under strict screening guidelines. Of that group, 431 are “ineligible” because their parents are no longer in the country, most likely because they have been deported.

Two weeks ago, the government missed an earlier court deadline for reuniting “tender-age” children, under 5 years old, by two days — and still reunited only half.

But put aside the numbers, which seem to shift and slide daily. Put aside the bureaucratic language.

Remember that these are children. Frightened. Traumatized. Children. Remember that these are mothers and fathers who fled gang violence and domestic abuse in their homelands to seek asylum in what they thought was a safer place.

Remember the scenes in airports where parents like Hermelindo Che Coc, an asylum-seeker from Guatemala, waited anxiously to see their little ones again. “Papa, I thought they killed you,” Che Coc’s 6-year-old told his father, according to the Los Angeles Times. “You separated from me. You don’t love me anymore?”

When father and son were finally reunited after two months, the boy had a cough and a rash covering his small body. He was expressionless.

Many families have reported that their children were returned with bruises, covered in lice, and unable to recognize them.

“What will become of these kids? Does the government plan on finding the parents?” said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, at a press conference with five other congress members Wednesday morning. “The answers are unknown because the administration refuses to respond to any congressional inquiries my colleagues and I have sent in.”

That’s a big part of the problem. The Trump administration, which touts itself as big on law and order and claims an immigration crackdown is necessary for national security and crime prevention, refuses to take responsibility for its own actions.

In the nine weeks since the zero-tolerance policy officially took effect, it has become abundantly clear that there was no plan to reunite families, no clear system of keeping track of which children went with which mom and dad, no intention of repairing the damage caused by ripping youngsters away from their parents.

There was just the goal of sowing terror as a way to deter immigrants from crossing the border and seeking asylum in the United States.

“This is a deeply troubling reality,” Judge Sabraw said earlier this week. “There has to be an accounting.”

We agree. Someone needs to answer for this.

Whether it is Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who instituted the zero-tolerance policy. Whether it is White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who first floated the idea, then defended family separations by noting children would be put in “foster care or whatever.” Whether it is Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who initially denied the policy only to issue misleading statistics in an attempt to justify it. Whether it is President Trump himself.

Someone needs to be held accountable for the trauma and suffering inflicted on thousands of families. In this case, the government perpetrators won’t be punished with jail time or caged away from their loved ones. No, it’s up to conscientious elected leaders to speak up for the victims and fight for accountability. And it’s up to voters to demand it.