But, in early August, an unknown official handed Helen a legal document, a “Request for a Flores Bond Hearing,” which described a set of legal proceedings and rights that would have been difficult for Helen to comprehend. At the time of her apprehension, in fact, Helen checked a box on a line that read, “I do request an immigration judge,” asserting her legal right to have her custody reviewed.
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She was granted an hour of “Large Muscle Activity and Leisure Time” each day, and received lessons on the human respiratory system, the history of music, and “the risk and danger of social media.” “Helen,” a caseworker observed, “has excellent behavior at all times.” She had no major sources of stress, her reports noted, aside from “being separated from her family.” Her teachers encouraged her to develop “ SMART goals”-ambitions that are “Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.” Helen’s goal was simple: “Minor disclosed wanting to live with her mother and family in the U.S.”Īccording to a long-standing legal precedent known as the Flores settlement, which established guidelines for keeping children in immigration detention, Helen had a right to a bond hearing before a judge that hearing would have likely hastened her release from government custody and her return to her family. Helen was given a pack of crayons and spent the summer coloring patriotic images: busts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the torch on the Statue of Liberty. Helen had been brought to Baytown, a shelter run by Baptist Child & Family Services, which the federal government had contracted to house unaccompanied minors. “Immigration took your daughter,” she told Jeny.Ī photo taken of Helen during her time in custody. When they didn’t, Noehmi began to shake, struggling to explain the situation. They left the detention center and rushed to Jeny’s house, in McAllen, hoping to find Helen there. The adults in the family were fitted with electronic ankle bracelets and all were released, pending court dates. Later that day, Noehmi and Christian were reunited. Noehmi remembers the authorities explaining that Helen’s mother would be able to retrieve her, soon, from wherever they were taking her. “The girl will stay here,” he said, “and you’ll be deported.” Helen cried as he escorted her from the room and out of sight. Noehmi said that the official told her, “Don’t make things too difficult,” and pulled Helen from her arms. Soon, she recalled, a plainclothes official arrived and informed her that she and Helen would be separated. Noehmi remained in a cold holding cell, clutching Helen. But, at a packed processing hub, Christian was taken from Noehmi and placed in a cage with toddlers. A month earlier, the Trump Administration had announced, amid public outcry over its systemic separation of migrant families at the border, that it would halt the practice.
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Border Patrol agents apprehended them and moved them through a series of detention centers. Her grandmother grabbed her hand and cried, “Hang on, Helen!” When the family reached the scrubland of southern Texas, U.S. While crossing the Rio Grande in the journey’s final stretch, Helen slipped from their raft and risked drowning. With Noehmi’s help, Helen travelled thousands of miles, sometimes on foot, and frequently fell behind the group.
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Helen’s mother, Jeny, had migrated to Texas four years earlier, and Noehmi planned to seek legal refuge there.
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In July, Helen fled Honduras with her grandmother, Noehmi, and several other relatives gangs had threatened Noehmi’s teen-age son, Christian, and the family no longer felt safe.
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This summer, when a social worker asked her to identify her strengths, Helen shared her pride in “her ability to learn fast and express her feelings and concerns.” She also recounted her favorite activities (“playing with her dolls”), her usual bedtime (“8 P.M.”), and her professional aspirations (“to be a veterinarian”). Helen-a smart, cheerful five-year-old girl-is an asylum seeker from Honduras.