A Central American asylum applicant arrested outside an L.A. immigration court is suing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security and the Trump administration for her immediate release and that of her two children, including her 6-year-old son stricken with cancer.
The Honduran woman, not named in court documents, filed a petition for writs of habeas corpus, challenging the legality of her and her family’s detention at a Texas facility. She is also asking for a preliminary injunction that would prevent her family’s immediate deportation to Honduras, as her children cry and pray nightly to be released from a Texas holding facility, according to court documents.
She and her two children, including a 9-year-old daughter, are facing two removal proceedings concurrently: a previous removal proceeding involving their asylum request and this recent expedited removal process.
The woman claims the government violated many of their rights, including the due process clause of the 5th Amendment.
Her attorneys noted that DHS determined she was not a flight risk when she was paroled and that her detention was unjustified.
The woman’s lawyers also argued that she was not given an opportunity to contest her family’s detention in front of a neutral adjudicator, and that the family’s 4th Amendment right to not be unlawfully arrested was violated.
The Honduran mother is being represented by several groups, including attorney Kate Gibson Kumar of the Texas Civil Rights Project.
“So often, you’ll hear all the rhetoric in this country that immigrants should be doing it ‘the right way,’ and it’s ironic in this case because we’re in a situation where this family did it ‘the right way’ and they’re being punished for it,” Kumar told The Times on Friday morning. “They followed the process, went where they were supposed to go and did everything that was asked of them.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Antonio on Tuesday. Kumar said a Texas judge issued an order late Thursday evening that compelled the government to respond to the habeas corpus petition by July 1.
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, countered in an email to The Times on Friday morning that the legal process was playing out fairly.
“This family had chosen to appeal their case — which had already been thrown out by an immigration judge — and will remain in ICE custody until it is resolved.”
One of the focal points of the lawsuit is the fate of the woman’s son.
The youth was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of 3 and has undergone chemotherapy treatments, including injecting chemotherapeutic agents into his cerebrospinal fluid, according to court documents.
He began treatment in Honduras and completed two years of chemotherapy, at which point the mother believes he no longer has leukemia cells in his blood, according to court documents.
The son, however, needs regular monitoring and medical care for his condition, according to court documents.
Last year, the family fled to the United States to “seek safety” after they were subject to “imminent, menacing death threats” in Honduras, according to court documents.
They applied for entrance while waiting in Mexico and received a CBP One app appointment in October to apply for asylum. They presented themselves at an undisclosed border entry, were processed and were paroled in the U.S., according to court documents.
They were scheduled to appear before a Los Angeles immigration court and moved to the area to live with family.
Both children enrolled in local public schools, attended Sunday church and were learning English, according to court documents.
“They’re asylum seekers fleeing from violence, who had an appointment at the border, were paroled into the country and the government made an assessment that they didn’t have to be detained,” Kumar said. “There should be some sort of protection for this family, which is doing everything right.”
The trio arrived at court May 29 for a hearing for their asylum request and were caught off guard when a Homeland Security lawyer asked for their case to be dismissed, according to court documents.
The woman told an immigration judge “we wish to continue [with our cases],” according to court documents.
The judge granted the dismissal and the Honduran mother and two children were immediately arrested by plainclothes ICE agents upon leaving the courtroom in the hallway, according to court documents. The woman had a June 5 medical appointment scheduled for her son’s cancer diagnosis, which he couldn’t attend because of the arrest.
The family was detained for hours on the first floor before being taken to an undisclosed immigration center in the city, according to court documents.
All three “cried in fear” and the young boy urinated on himself and remained in wet clothing “for hours,” according to court documents.
The trio were placed on a flight to San Antonio along with several other families. The date of the flight was not available.
After landing, the family was transported to a detention center in Dilley, Texas, where they remain.
“Fortunately, the minor child in question has not undergone chemotherapy in over a year, and has been seen regularly by medical personnel since arriving at the Dilley facility,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin added that no family member had been denied emergency care.
“The implication that ICE would deny a child the medical care they need is flatly FALSE, and it is an insult to the men and women of federal law enforcement,” she said. “ICE ALWAYS prioritizes the health, safety, and well-being of all detainees in its care.”
The children have cried each night and prayed “for God to take them out of the detention center,” according to court documents.
The mother claims that the federal government did nothing to monitor her son’s leukemia for days.
Her lawyers have also sought the boy’s release for medical treatment, a request that was not fulfilled.
