Rosamaria Hernandez, 10, was escorted out of a Texas hospital by immigration officers following her emergency gallbladder surgery. Deportation processing proceedings are underway as Hernandez remains detained in a government-contracted juvenile shelter in San Antonio 150 miles from Laredo where her parents live.
Once Rosamaria is released, she will have to go before an immigration judge to stop her deportation, but for now there is no imminent threat she’ll be sent to Mexico, Galvez said.
In a statement, CBP spokesperson Rob Kise said agents encountered Rosamaria and her cousin at the Freer Border Patrol Checkpoint on Highway 59, east of Laredo.
“Per the immigration laws of the United States, once medically cleared, she will be processed accordingly,” Kise said. “The Mexican Consulate has been advised of the situation.”
Galvez said the family also has to wait for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to conduct a home study of Rosamaria’s residence.
He anticipates filing an asylum bid for Rosamaria because of her cerebral palsy and the discrimination she would face in Mexico if she’s deported.
“It’s the Wild West now if you’re undocumented. You’re exposed and no hospital, church, or school is a safe haven,” Galvez said. “Nobody should have to be afraid of getting medical care because they fear being detained and deported.”
The arrest drew the ire of Rep. Joaquin Castro, who said on Twitter that CBP’s detention of Rosamaria was a misuse of resources.
US Customs and Border Protection lists hospitals, schools, and churches as “sensitive locations” that agents should go to only after careful consideration. The policy considers national security dangers, terrorism, and public safety threats circumstances that would require an agent to enter these locations.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, and Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, sent a letter to Elaine Duke, acting Homeland Security secretary, on Thursday saying Rosamaria’s detention was another example of the Trump administration failing to follow the agency’s sensitive location guidelines.
“In this case, this vulnerable child presented no risk of terrorism, danger to the community, nor to the public safety,” the letter said. “On the contrary, DHS’s decision to detain a 10-year-old child with cerebral palsy who just received emergency surgery only risks the child’s life and her well-being. It increases her risk of post-operative infection and medical complications.”
The letter also cited concerns that Rosamaria’s would instill community-wide fear and deter immigrants from seeking medical care for themselves or their children.
“We are concerned that the detention of this 10-year-old child is a result of an unjust, inhumane immigration enforcement policy that has shown no mercy, not even for sick, disabled children,” Lofgren and Conyers wrote.
Source: BuzzFeed
