‘It is beyond cruel’: Ice refuses to reunite girl with the only family she has left
María has been waiting to be paroled so she can be with her niece, who was sent to foster care 400 miles away
María has been waiting to be paroled so she can be with her niece, who was sent to foster care 400 miles away
For more than nine months, María, 23, has been waiting in an immigration detention center in Arizona hoping to reunite with the six-year-old niece she raised as a daughter. When the two asked for asylum at the border
last March because they feared for their lives in Guatemala, border officials detained María in the Eloy detention center and sent the girl to foster care in New York, 400 miles away.
But despite that public support, Ice denied María’s application for parole in mid-December.
Parole was once the norm for arriving asylum seekers, but in recent years approvals have become increasingly rare. On a standardized form, Ice officers indicated María failed
Parole was once the norm for arriving asylum seekers, but in recent years approvals have become increasingly rare. On a standardized form, Ice officers indicated María failed
to prove she was “not a flight risk” or that her “continued detention was not in the public interest”.María said the denial was “depressing” because it prolongs her separation from the child. She has regular phone calls with her niece,
who says she doesn’t want to be apart any more. “But I tell her she has to be patient, wait a little bit longer. Just like I’m doing it myself from here,” María said in Spanish during a phone call from detention on Thursday.
“Why does Ice get to say what the public interest is?” said Suzannah Maclay, one of María’s pro bono attorneys. “It’s very clear what the public is interested in here. It’s helping these people and getting them back together.”
An Ice spokeswoman emailed a statement reciting the facts of María’s case but did not answer why the agency denied parole.Six years ago, a gang in rural Guatemala murdered María’s last living relatives except her niece, who was a baby. 😢🖤 @SpeakerPelosi
María raised the child and is the only mother the girl has known. They fled toward the United States last Christmas after the gang murdered María’s partner and tried to shoot her.
