McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Four months after being stopped at a South Texas checkpoint and deported to Mexico, three members of a family are asking for humanitarian parole in the United States, their lawyers said Thursday.
María and Juan Hernández García and a daughter who were sent to Mexico in February have filed to return to the United States under humanitarian parole, the Texas Civil Rights Project said.
The Hernández Garcías and their six children, including five who are U.S. citizens, were deported to Mexico after being questioned at an immigration checkpoint in Sarita, Texas. They had been trying to drive to Houston for emergency medical care for their 11-year-old child, a U.S. citizen, who suffers from a rare brain condition and has a brain tumor, their lawyers say.
Another one of their children has a serious heart condition and their lawyers say they need to return to the United States for proper medical care.
They have lived in Texas for over a decade and had been traveling from their home in Rio Grande City to Houston at the time they were arrested by Border Patrol agents on Feb. 4.
The parents, who did not have documentation showing they were citizens or had legal U.S. status, were given the choice of self-deporting with their children, or the parents could be sent to Mexico and the children would be put in the care of the U.S. government. Five of their six children were in their vehicle and also detained at the time.
The family decided to deport together.
“Families like this are just as Texan as any of us, and our dreams are the same: to keep our children safe and healthy and together,” Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project said in a statement. “This family’s story is, unfortunately, not unique. We witnessed devastating family separations during Trump’s first administration, causing irreversible harm to the children forced to endure these policies. Now, we are seeing these dangerous tactics resurface, and we must act before another generation suffers these injustices.”
After their deportation, the Young Center for Immigrant and Children’s Rights said the family’s sixth child has remained in the United States while the rest of the family was in Mexico.
“No family should ever have to make this impossible choice. All children deserve to safely access medical care with their families, without the fear of incarceration or family separation,” said Kelly Albinak Kribs, co-director for the center’s technical assistance program.
In May, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, of Houston, and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus visited with the girl and her family in Mexico and also called for an investigation into the case.
“When a U.S. citizen child with a serious medical condition is deported alongside her entire family without a hearing, without medical care, and without basic human decency, that’s not just an immigration issue. It’s a Constitutional crisis,” Garcia said in a statement.
In April, the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a complaint with the Office of Inspector General on behalf of the family claiming they were subjected to abusive treatment during their detention and removal. This included verbal slurs and they were allegedly denied medical care while detained.
Border Report has asked the Department of Homeland Security for information on this case and reason for their deportations. This story will be updated if information is received.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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