Appeals Court: Immigrant Child With Head Injury Will Not Be Deported From Texas
HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A federal ruling means a 5-year-old immigrant child, who injured his head before ICE agents arrested his family, can stay in the U.S. -- for now.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order late Monday that prevents the immediate removal of the boy, his 1-year-old brother, and their mother, who are being held detained at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's family detention center at Dilley, Texas. The appeals court asked for more information from both sides Tuesday and Wednesday.
The child fractured his skull and suffered bleeding around his brain in a December fall, a month before his family was detained. Advocates for the child say he needs to be seen by a neurologist.
According to representatives for the family, the child still has headaches and trouble hearing normal levels of sound, indicating he could be suffering from the aftermath of a traumatic brain injury. They have asked that he be taken to a pediatric neurologist.
ICE has defended the care given to the child, saying medical staff at Dilley and at a San Antonio hospital determined he did not need to see a neurologist.
A district judge on Monday sided with ICE, ruling that the family's lawyers did not prove that deportation would further injure the child. U.S. government agencies "do not have an obligation to continue ... medical care indefinitely," U.S District Judge Stephen V. Wilson said.
Before the appeals court intervened, the mother and two children were told to prepare to leave Dilley overnight in expectation that they would board a deportation flight to Guatemala, said Amy Maldonado, an attorney for the family.
The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment because the litigation was ongoing.
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