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Judge Allows Mother, Boy From Central America To Stay At Least Six More Months

(CBS) -- A three-year-old boy and his mother who are in the country illegally from Honduras, will get at least six more months in Chicago, reports WBBM's Cisco Cotto.

Evelyn Velasquez says she and her three-year-old Iker fled Honduras on a raft because of threats of violence. They are in the U.S. now and asking the government to let them stay permanently.

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Their lawyer, Christopher Helt, says if an immigration judge sends them back, they will be persecuted.

"They were politically active in a party which didn't win," Helt said. "They were threatened by gangs there so the claim of persecution is multi-level."

Their next hearing is set for July. The six-month gap in the hearings represents just how backlogged the courts are after a flood of children entered the country illegally last year.

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