Second Brazilian Mom Heading To Court In Effort To Be Reunited With Son
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An East Coast lawyer who helped reunite a Brazilian woman with her son last week was heading back to federal court on Thursday, trying to reunite another family separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Sirley Paixao, a Brazilian immigrant seeking asylum in the United States, was forcibly separated from her 10-year-old son, Diego, after crossing the border on May 22.
Diego was brought to Chicago, along with more than 50 other Brazilian children separated from their families under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy on illegal border crossings.
Paixao was released from custody on June 13, after passing an initial screening determining she had a credible fear of persecution in Brazil. However, she was not given accurate instructions for how to be reunited with Diego.
Last week, Paixao's attorney, Jesse Bless, helped reunite another Brazilian refugee, Lidia Souza, with her 9-year-old son, Diogo.
Since Diogo and Diego were staying in the same shelter under the same circumstances, Bless had hoped federal authorities would release Paixao's son without a lawsuit, but they declined, so he filed another lawsuit seeking Diego's immediate release.
"It was such a bittersweet ending to the week, to be honest, to be returned with only one child and two mothers," Bless said. "It was awful. We figured that the government would abide by Judge Shah's ruling in other cases, and that's not the case."
Paixao was able to meet with her son last week, but wasn't able to take him back with her to Massachusetts.
Bless criticized the federal government for arguing in court that the children that have been separated from their parents are "unaccompanied minors."
U.S. District Judge Manish Shah rejected that argument last week when ordering Diego reunited with his mom, ruling that continuing to keep him separated "likely violates the law."
"How long are you going to hold onto this erroneous legal position that these children are unaccompanied? They're not unaccompanied minors. That's the legal position that the government has adopted, and that has been rejected repeatedly," Bless said.
A hearing on Paixao's request to be reunited with Diego has been scheduled for noon Thursday at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.
Two similar cases involving 9- and 15-year-old boys from Brazil who were separated from their fathers also are scheduled to be heard in federal court on Thursday.
