Girl, 8, Sexually Assaulted In Illegal Immigration Bid Gets Amnesty
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — An 8-year-old Salvadoran migrant has been reunited with her local grandmother after a harrowing journey that included her being sexually assaulted and detained for her own safety in Mexico.
KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou reports Veronica Giron was on her way to meet up with her parents — who are in the U.S. illegally — when she was sexually assaulted by three men on a bus from El Salvador.
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Attorney Jessica Dominguez, who represents the girl's grandmother, Ana Giron, said the girl reported the crimes to Mexican police, who arrested the suspects, but kept her in protective custody in Chihuahua.
U.S. officials had been lobbying the Mexican government to grant the girl a humanitarian visa to bring her safely into the U.S.
One of the paths by which officials hoped to secure Veronica's arrival is by seeking legal custody in family court, at which point she would apply for what Dominguez called "special juvenile immigrant status".
Veronica arrived in the U.S. on Sunday and is now living with Ana, who is a U.S. citizen, in Los Angeles.
Officials did not comment on whether any charges will be brought against the parents related to the girl's abortive attempt to illegally immigrate to the U.S.
