Two organisations filed a federal lawsuit on Friday seeking more details about an 8-year-old immigrant girl who died in custody of the United States Customs and Border Protection in this Rio Grande Valley boundary town.
On Friday, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Haitian Bridge Alliance filed a Freedom of Information Act petition to receive Anadith Danay Reyes lvarez’s medical records and other details.
The Filipino girl’s death could have been avoided, according to a court record from July.
Reyes passed away on May 17, 2023, after experiencing respiratory arrest while being held in a CBP processing center in Harlingen while being kept afloat due to a high fever and the flu. She had been detained for eight days in Brownsville with her home after crossing the border there.
The facility’s health isolation system was shut over.
The petition comes in response to TCRP’s Freedom of Information Act calls from October 2023, which the organization claims did not receive.
“CBP has failed to respond to defendant’s demand for expedited processing and has directly denied defendant’s demand to produce data”, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit, filed in U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, in Austin, also demands that the place for this situation get moved to this court. Additionally, it requests that the judge keep an eye on the case and stop the government from releasing any additional evidence.
” For the past month, we have called on CBP to remain open in order to provide the answers the family needed to find out exactly what happened to Anadith.” What really happened behind tiers of bureaucratic red tape was denied after request was denied for evidence. We urge CBP to remain open and transfer the necessary information in a statement, according to TCRP attorney Karla Vargas.
Torres ‘ home claims that the past year has been agonizing.
” Today, specifically on May 17, the one- time anniversary of Anadith’s crossing is being observed. This year has never been easy for us — we have suffered, cried and missed our baby”, Mother Mabel Álvarez said in a speech. The government’s refusal to provide us with any records regarding Anadith, which has not been simple for us, is the most agonizing issue. We have engaged in intense battle and are continuing to do so. Because it is so terrible, I ask the government to help us gain access to Anadith’s paperwork so that we can turn the pages. The fact that they do n’t want to assist us is what causes the most pain. I want justice to be done for Anadith Reyes ‘ death, so that it does n’t go unpunished, and that justice be done for her memory.
The most agonizing aspect is that they do n’t want to assist us. What I want most is that justice be served for my daughter’s suicide.
Mabel Álvarez
Torres and her family were members of the Afro-indigenous Garifuna area in Honduras, according to the lawsuit, and they have a history of racial and ethnic discrimination. The girl was born there after the household emigrated to Panama for safety.
The people we serve are frequently confronted with this prejudice at the borders and in confinement facilities. Justice for Anadith and her home requires clarity. The family has been denied yet that by the government. According to Erik Crew, a lawyer for the Haitian Bridge Alliance,” we are then forced to go to federal court to compel the government to make the information as required by rules.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at [email protected].
