A young mother, who arrived in this country alongside her 7-year-old daughter appealed to government officials for asylum. She said she and her child had fled their country of origin in fear for their lives. She was hoping and trusting that U.S. immigration law would be her pathway to safety. A number of Florida residents are likely worried about similar immigration issues.
Instead, the woman has been grief-stricken after immigration officials took her daughter away from her. She herself was placed in one immigration detention center while her daughter was taken to another; they have not seen each other in more than three months. The woman says her daughter could be heard screaming in fear when officials separated her from her mother.
Immigration officers have supposedly allowed the mother and daughter to speak by phone on several occasions. However, the family members now have much physical distance between them. The mother is detained on the West Coast and the child in Illinois. The woman said officials provided no explanation when they took her child away from her, four days after her arrival in the United States.
Immigrant advocates have called for the woman’s release, or at least that she and her child be reunited in a family immigration detention facility. Those who support proposed U.S. immigration law reform throughout the nation have adamantly stated that children should be indefinitely separated from their parents, even in situations where legal statuses are challenged. Florida residents facing immigration problems can turn to experienced attorneys for guidance.
Source: aclu.org, “A Mother and Child Fled the Congo, Only to Be Cruelly Separated by the US Government“, Jenny Samuels, Feb. 26, 2018
