Thread by @SereneWright

At Border Patrol facility in El Paso,an agent told a Honduran family 1 parent to be sent to Mexico,other parent and 3 kids could stay in the U.S., The agent told 3-year-old Sofia to choose. Sofia has a bad heart.
#ImmigrationReform #CrimesAgainstHumanity npr.org/2019/07/15/741…

"The agent asked her who she wanted to go with, mom or dad," her mom told NPR through interpreter. "And the girl, because she is more attached to me, she said mom. But when they started to take [my husband] away, the girl started to cry. The officer said, 'You said with mom.' "

They are part of a Trump administration program called Migrant Protection Protocols — also known as "remain in Mexico" — which requires thousands of Central American migrants to wait in dangerous cities in northern Mexico while their immigration cases are handled by U.S. courts.

At a hearing on Wednesday, the family's lawyer, Linda Rivas of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, asked that they be removed from MPP because of Sofi's heart condition. The couple has two other children, a 9-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son.

Rivas presented evidence from a Mexican health clinic that the 3-year-old girl had suffered a heart attack, a revelation that seemed to stun Immigration Judge Nathan Herbert.

The judge said he didn't have the authority to remove the family from MPP but asked the DHS lawyer to take note of Rivas' concerns.
On Thursday, Sofi was examined by a doctor working on contract for DHS, who told Border Patrol agents the girl had a serious heart condition

"They spoke to me at around 3 or 3:30 p.m., and they told me: 'Sign here, because we are giving you and your children permission.' And I said, 'I came with the children's father,' and he said, 'Not him. Only you and your children.'

And the doctor said it's important for the family to stay [together], and even the doctor said 'They entered as a family and they have to leave as a family.' "
The agent insisted on the separation and asked Sofi which parent she wanted to go with, Tania said.

"The doctor told me, don't let them ask her because they don't have the right to ask a minor," she said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to NPR's questions about the family's treatment while in Border Patrol custody or about the decision to remove them from MPP and allow them to stay in the U.S.

DHS guidelines say that people with "known physical/mental health issues" are exempt from MPP, but the Border Patrol twice sent Sofi and her family back to Juárez — the first time in April, then again in June

The family fled Honduras after Tania witnessed her mother get killed. Her sister-in-law also was a witness and was later kidnapped, tortured and slain to keep her from testifying. The gang MS-13 then posted a note on the family's door telling them they had 45 minutes to leave

Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Dem whose office assisted the family in its efforts to be removed from the MPP program, is asking DHS to investigate allegations that the Border Patrol planned to separate the family and asked a 3-yr-old to pick which parent she would go with.

"We cannot go back to Honduras," Tania said. "We hope that the children could study here because in Honduras there are no opportunities for the children to go to school, for them to grow. We are honest people. We don't want to harm anyone. We just want an opportunity."