Girl With Down Syndrome Detained By Border Patrol

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A 10-year-old Mexican girl with Down syndrome is among the thousands of children who have recently been separated from their parents on the southern border of the United States.

The girl, whose name has not been released by Mexico's foreign minister, and her brother were sent to a detention center in McAllen, Texas, and her mother was sent to another detention center, about an hour in Brownsville after that the family tried to cross the border.

At a press conference, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said that the Mexican consulate along with the girl's father, a legal resident of the United States, are working to release her.

It is a "particularly painful case," said Videgaray.

The foreign minister said he also had knowledge of 21 Mexican children who have been separated from their parents. Most of the children have been sent back to Mexico, but seven of them are still in US custody, he added.

At least 2,000 children have been separated from their parents at the border as a result of the new Zero Tolerance policy, Department of Homeland Security officials said last week. Videgaray condemned the practice and said it was "cruel and inhuman."

Most of the children detained on the border with the United States came from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. About 1% of the detained children were Mexican, Videgaray said.

"The Mexican government in no way promotes illegal migration," he said. "However, in accordance with our constitutional principles and our convictions, we cannot be indifferent to an act that clearly represents a violation of human rights and that puts minors, children, including those with disabilities, in a vulnerable position."

The National Down Syndrome Society said it will work with authorities to help the girl.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to this girl and her family during this unprecedented and difficult time. NDSS will work with the appropriate authorities to ensure that she receives all the resources she needs to help comfort her until she can be reunited with her father and eventually with her entire family, where she belongs,”the organization wrote on Facebook.

Corey Lewandowski, a former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, dismissed the girl's story Tuesday in a Fox News broadcast.

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