A nine-year-old US citizen who crosses the border from Mexico into California every weekday for school was detained for more than 30 hours.
Julia Isabel Amparo Medina was stopped Monday by US Customs and Border Patrol while attempting to cross from Tijuana, Mexico, as she does each school day to attend classes in San Ysidro, California.
Julia said agents told her she didn’t look like her passport photo.
Her 14-year-old brother, Oscar Amparo Medina, was also questioned, and allegedly made to sign a document stating that his sister was actually his cousin, Melanie, while the family said he was threatened with sex trafficking charges.
Agents said Julia ‘provided inconsistent information during her inspection’ and it was necessary to keep her in custody while they verified her identity and citizenship status.
‘I was scared, Julia said.’ I was sad because I didn’t have my mom or my brother. I was completely by myself,’ she added, noting she woke up throughout the night several times.
Reunited: Julia’s mother got the Mexican consulate involved, and nearly two days later she was reunited with her daughter, in a tearful embrace with her son at the San Ysidro port of entry. She was detained for more than 30 hours
Julia crosses the border from Mexico into California every weekday for school
. Agents allegedly told Julia that she didn’t look like her passport photo, which was taken when she was younger
Oscar was not detained. It wasn’t until about 6pm Pacific the following day that her mother Thelma Galaxia received the call that her daughter would be released at the San Ysidro port of entry.
Regarding the 32-plus hours it took to sort out Julia’s valid citizenship status, Public Affairs officer Jackie Wasiluk told NBC 7 in a statement: ‘Some specifics of our techniques for determining the true identity of a person crossing the border are law enforcement sensitive information. In addition, some details of this case are restricted from release due to privacy concerns.’
Julia and her family shared their version of what happened, painting a picture that would be frightening for anyone, let alone minors without the guidance of a trusted adult at their side.
The family said Oscar (pictured) was threatened with sex trafficking charges if he didn’t sign the document. Agents said Julia ‘provided inconsistent information during her inspection’ and they had to detain her while they verified her identity and citizenship status
The family said Julia and Oscar were in a vehicle in line on the Mexico side at the San Ysidro border crossing with family friend Michelle Cardenas (pictured) and her two children at around 4am Pacific on Monday
The family said Julia and Oscar were in a vehicle in line on the Mexico side at the San Ysidro border crossing with family friend Michelle Cardenas and her two children at around 4am Pacific on Monday.
The line was long, Cardenas said, so she told the children to get out and walk across the border, with a plan to call them a rideshare to take them to their respective schools so they wouldn’t be late.
Oscar attends ninth grade at San Ysidro High School and Julia is in the fourth grade at Nicoloff Elementary School, but neither of them made it to their classes that day.
Julia (pictured) didn’t make it to class on Monday, or Tuesday, She said she was told if she admitted she was her cousin, Melanie, she could go home and see her mother
The line was long, Cardenas said, so she told the children to get out and walk across the border, with a plan to call them a rideshare to take them to their respective schools so they wouldn’t be late
Agents allegedly told Julia that she didn’t look like her passport photo, which was taken when she was younger. In the US, passports for children under the age of 16 are valid for five years, per the US Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs.
‘My daughter told her brother that the officer told her that if she admitted that she was her cousin, she would be released soon so she could see her mom,’ Galaxia said.
CBP said Julia ‘provided inconsistent information during her inspection’ so she was detained in order to allow authorities ‘to perform due diligence in confirming her identity and citizenship.’
‘It’s important that CBP officials positively confirm the identity of a child travelling without a parent or legal guardian,’ Wasiluk said.
Her 14-year-old brother, Oscar Amparo Medina (second from right), was also questioned, and allegedly made to sign a document stating that his sister was actually his cousin, Melanie
Oscar said agents forced him to sign a letter stating Julia was their cousin, Melanie, after accusing him of crimes he didn’t understand.
‘She [Juila] is my daughter,’ Galaxia said. ‘He [Oscar] was told that he would be taken to jail and they were going to charge him for human trafficking and sex trafficking.’
Galaxia got the Mexican consulate involved, and nearly two days later she was reunited with her daughter, in a tearful embrace with her son at the San Ysidro port of entry.