Guatemalan asylum-seeker sues Trump administration for taking her son

A Guatemalan asylum-seeker sued the Trump administration on Tuesday for ‘forcibly’ separating her from her seven-year-old son after they crossed the border in May.

Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia was never indicted for illegally entering the country, but officials won’t tell where her son Darwin is, according to her lawsuit filed Tuesday in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. against 6 federal agencies and 10 senior officials.

Mejia-Mejia’s lawsuit is believed to be the first to challenge the government’s removal of a specific child from a parent in the course of upholding federal immigration law. It opens up a new legal front in what has become an all-out battle with the White House on one side and a combination of Democratic lawmakers and immigration activists on the other. 

In the suit she describes a heart-wrenching scene when uniformed agents entered her holding cell and took away the boy, who screamed for his mother.

Mejia-Mejia and her son entered the U.S. near San Luis, Arizona on approximately May 19 and turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents, requesting asylum because of spousal abuse at the hands of a violently alcoholic husband who she says threatened to kill her.

She says immigration officials took the boy after they spent two days in ‘la hielera’ – the ‘cooler.’ 

SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE ENTIRE LAWSUIT 

The Trump admininstration is under fire from all sides for separating more than 2,000 minors from their parents after they cross into the U.S. illegally, and one Guatemalan woman who’s seeking asylum and has posted bond to get out of immigration jail sued on Tuesday after officials won’t tell her where her son is

The White House has insisted that court rulings offer no flexibility, and that children can't legally be housed in immigration detention centers with the adults who bring them across the border ¿ even if they're their parents; the result has been scenes like this one, and an ear-piercing, emotional outcry from Americans across the political spectrum

The White House has insisted that court rulings offer no flexibility, and that children can’t legally be housed in immigration detention centers with the adults who bring them across the border – even if they’re their parents; the result has been scenes like this one, and an ear-piercing, emotional outcry from Americans across the political spectrum

President Trump, pictured Tuesday, is defending his policy, with top officials saying separating kids from jailed parents is no different from what happens in ordinary criminal courts

President Trump, pictured Tuesday, is defending his policy, with top officials saying separating kids from jailed parents is no different from what happens in ordinary criminal courts

Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia has sued the Trump administration, saying she was 'forcibly' separated from her 7-year-old son after they entered the U.S. illegally but then applied for asylum

Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia has sued the Trump administration, saying she was ‘forcibly’ separated from her 7-year-old son after they entered the U.S. illegally but then applied for asylum

‘Men dressed in green uniforms (border agents) told Ms. M. they needed to take her son and would not tell her why. Ms. M. said “no” and demanded an explanation, but they would not tell her why they needed to take her seven-year-old son, and they took him anyway,’ the legal complaint reads, referring to Mejia-Mejia and her son only by their initials.

‘The border agents did not tell Ms. M. where they were taking her son,’ who was ‘screaming and crying.’

‘That was the last time Ms. M. saw her son,’ according to the lawsuit.

She ‘has not been given any paperwork to indicate where her son is or what his status or health condition is,’ it alleges.

Mejia-Mejia was released from federal immigration detention center in Eloy, Arizona on June 15 after posting a $12,500 bond.

The funds came from Libre by Nexus, a company that typically requires immigrants awaiting court hearings to pay 20 per cent of their bond amounts plus a monthly fee for GPS monitoring ankle-bracelets designed to ensure they come to scheduled hearings.

Mejia-Mejia was permitted to post bond after she passed what the Justice Department calls a ‘credible fear’ interview, persuading immigration officials that deporting her back to Guatemala would place her in physical danger.

After her release, Mejia-Mejia was permitted a single phone call with Darwin, whom agents would only tell her was somewhere in Phoenix.

‘Her son was crying and scared’ during the brief call, according to the lawsuit.

‘An official facilitating the call, who was with D.M., told Ms. M. that her son was “fine,” but Ms. M. could clearly hear her son saying “Mama! Mama! Mama!” in a distressed voice over and over and over again.’ 

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Monday at the White House that children like Darwin are typically held in shelters by the Department of Health and Human Services for no more than 20 days.

That agency’s Office of Refugee Resettlement ‘provides meals, medical care, and educational services to these children. They are provided temporary shelter. And HHS works hard to find a parent, relative, or foster home to care for these children,’ she said.

Mejia-Mejia says federal officials won't tell her where her son is, and only allowed her to speak with him once after she bonded out of immigration jail ¿ and heard him crying 'Mama! Mama!'

Mejia-Mejia says federal officials won’t tell her where her son is, and only allowed her to speak with him once after she bonded out of immigration jail – and heard him crying ‘Mama! Mama!’

Nielsen also told reporters that parents like Mejia-Mejia ‘can still communicate with their children through phone calls and video conferencing.’

That doesn’t appear to have happened in her case.

Neither an ICE spokesperson nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday on Twitter that the U.S. ‘must always arrest people coming into our Country illegally.’

‘Of the 12,000 children, 10,000 are being sent by their parents on a very dangerous trip, and only 2000 are with their parents, many of whom have tried to enter our Country illegally on numerous occasions.’

In a speech tothe National Federation of Independent Business, Trump said that ‘we’ve got to stop separation of the families.’

But the federal government, he claimed, has only two choices that don’t break current law. 

‘We have only two policy options to respond to this massive crisis,’ he said. ‘We can either release all immigrant families and minors who show up at the border from Central America. Or we can arrest the adults for the federal crime of illegal entries.’

‘Those are [the] only two options: totally open borders or criminal prosecution for lawbreaking.’

‘We can’t let people pour in,’ he added. ‘They’ve gotta go through the process. And maybe it’s politically correct or maybe it’s not.’

Attorney General Jeff Sessions approved a ‘zero tolerance’ immigration enforcement policy in April, directing agents in the field to spare no one from prosecution after an illegal border crossing.

‘What has changed,’ Nielsen said Monday, ‘is that we no longer exempt entire classes of people who break the law. Everyone is subject to prosecution.’

She underscored that ‘if an adult enters at a port of entry and claims asylum, they will not face prosecution for illegal entry. They have not committed a crime by coming to the port of entry.’

Mejia-Mejia is not facing criminal prosecution despite jumping the border in between those legal ports of entry, calling the consistency of the zero-tolerance approach into doubt.

Trump said Tuesday during a speech that he has 'only two options' for dealing with adults who illegally bring children into the U.S. from Mexico: 'totally open borders or criminal prosecution for lawbreaking'

Trump said Tuesday during a speech that he has ‘only two options’ for dealing with adults who illegally bring children into the U.S. from Mexico: ‘totally open borders or criminal prosecution for lawbreaking’

In her legal argument, she claims the Trump administration ‘has separated hundreds of migrant families for no legitimate purpose.’

‘Although there are no allegations that the parents are unfit or abusing their children in any way, the government has forcibly separated them from their young children and detained the children, often far away, in facilities for “unaccompanied” minors,’ she charges.

It’s unclear whether Mejia-Mejia’s asylum request will be granted.

Last week Sessions ruled that domestic violence can no longer be considered grounds for asylum unless an applicant can prove he or she was persecuted because of ‘membership in a particular and socially distinct group’ like race or gender.

But passing the credible fear test, and bonding out of jail, suggests her case may fit into a narrow range of exceptions.

In her lawsuit, Mejia-Mejia is asking a federal judge to declare separating her from her son was ‘unlawful,’ order the boy’s return to her and forbid the government from deporting her without him.

She is also seeking financial damages for the ‘pain and suffering arising from the separation,’ and ‘punitive damages for the conscious disregard for [her] rights.   

The lawsuit cites the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and alleges that the Trump administration violated her and her son’s rights to due process under the law.   

They ‘have a liberty interest under the Due Process Clause in remaining together as a family,’ it contends.

Her argument hinges on the definition of a ‘person’ in the Fifth Amendment, which the Supreme Court ruled in 2001 encompasses people who, the law considers ‘aliens.’ 

‘Once an alien enters the country, the legal circumstance changes, for the due process clause applies to all persons within the United States,’ the justices wrote in the case Zadvydas vs. Davis.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions launched a 'zero tolerance' policy in April, giving agents on the ground no practical leeway in deciding whether to criminally indict border-jumpers

Attorney General Jeff Sessions launched a ‘zero tolerance’ policy in April, giving agents on the ground no practical leeway in deciding whether to criminally indict border-jumpers

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told reporters on Monday at the White House that everyone who comes into the U.S. illegally is subject to prosecution and asylum-seekers should cross legally at regular ports of entry; Mejia-Mejia didn't do this but hasn't been indicted ¿ and yet she still doesn't know how to reach her young son

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told reporters on Monday at the White House that everyone who comes into the U.S. illegally is subject to prosecution and asylum-seekers should cross legally at regular ports of entry; Mejia-Mejia didn’t do this but hasn’t been indicted – and yet she still doesn’t know how to reach her young son

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the administration this year, challenging the policy more generally. A judge ruled June 6 that the suit can proceed forward, saying that it describes ‘government conduct that arbitrarily tears at the sacred bond between parent and child.’ 

Mejia-Mejia sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Health and Human Services and its Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Individual named defendants include Nielsen, Sessions, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan, Phoenix ICE Field Office Director Henry Lucero and Assistant Field Office Director Michael Zackowski, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna, Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan and his Tucson Field Director William Brooks, and Office of Refugee Resettlement Director Scott Lloyd.

President Trump is not named as a defendant. 

The case is Mejia-Mejia v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al,  1:18-cv-01445.



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