Saturday

07-05-2025 Vol 2012

Honduran Asylum Seeker Sues U.S. Government Over Detention of Her and Her Children

A Central American asylum seeker is taking legal action against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Trump administration following her arrest outside an immigration court in Los Angeles.

The woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, has filed a petition for writs of habeas corpus to challenge the legality of her and her children’s detention at a facility in Texas. Along with her two children, a 6-year-old son suffering from cancer and a 9-year-old daughter, the lawsuit aims for their immediate release and seeks an injunction to prevent their deportation back to Honduras.

According to court documents, the family experiences emotional distress, crying and praying every night for their release from the holding facility.

The mother asserts that they are currently facing two concurrent removal proceedings: one concerning their asylum request and the other a recent expedited removal process.

Her legal team contends that the government’s actions violate their rights, particularly the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. Notably, DHS had previously determined that she was not a flight risk when she was paroled into the U.S., calling into question the justification for her detention.

Moreover, her attorneys maintain that she was not given a fair opportunity to contest the legality of their detention before a neutral adjudicator.

The family’s legal representatives also argue that their 4th Amendment rights, protecting them from unlawful arrest, were infringed upon during the arrest.

Represented by a coalition of legal advocacy groups, including attorney Kate Gibson Kumar from the Texas Civil Rights Project, the San Antonio-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the immigrant advocacy organization Raices Texas, the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in San Antonio on Tuesday.

One of the primary concerns highlighted in the lawsuit is the health condition of the woman’s son. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of three and has undergone intensive treatment, including chemotherapy therapies that involved injecting chemotherapeutic agents into his cerebrospinal fluid.

After initiating treatment in Honduras and completing two years of chemotherapy, the mother believes that her son no longer has leukemia cells in his bloodstream. However, he continues to require regular medical monitoring and care, which is essential for his well-being.

Last year, the family fled Honduras due to “imminent, menacing death threats,” seeking safety in the United States. They applied for entry while waiting in Mexico and received a scheduled appointment in October through the CBP One app to pursue their asylum request.

Upon presenting themselves at an undisclosed border entry, they were processed and paroled into the country. They had moved to Los Angeles to live with relatives and had their children enroll in local public schools, attending church every Sunday and learning English.

On May 29, they arrived at the Los Angeles immigration court for a hearing regarding their asylum claim, but the situation took an unexpected turn when a Homeland Security lawyer requested their case’s dismissal.

Seeking to continue their case, the mother expressed their wish to proceed. However, the judge approved the dismissal, and immediately afterward, the family was arrested by plainclothes ICE agents just outside the courtroom.

Due to their arrest, the mother missed a crucial medical appointment scheduled for June 5 regarding her son’s cancer diagnosis. The family endured several hours of detention after being arrested before being transported to an undisclosed immigration facility in the city.

While in custody, the children expressed fear, with reports indicating that the young boy even soiled himself due to distress and remained in wet clothes for hours. Subsequently, they were put on a flight to San Antonio, along with other families, before being transferred to a detention center located in Dilley, Texas.

In the detention center, the children have reportedly cried each night and prayed for their release, as cited in court documents. The mother alleges that the federal government has failed to monitor her son’s leukemia condition for several days, and her requests for his medical treatment have gone unfulfilled.

This case represents a significant intersection of immigration policy and the urgent health needs of a child, raising questions about the treatment of asylum seekers and their families under the current administration.

image source from:latimes

Benjamin Clarke