EAST ST. LOUIS - Somewhere in Caseyville a mother from Honduras hides from gangs and pursues a lawsuit against the nation that granted asylum to her and her family.
She filed a complaint in U.S. district court on Nov. 1 seeking compensation for a year her family spent in Mexico while the U.S. arranged her rescue.
Her counsel Sarah Harmon of Chicago moved to proceed under a false name.
Harmon claimed identification of mother or father might place them in danger from individuals they fled in Honduras.
“Plaintiff raises issues in this lawsuit that are a matter of significant public concern,” she wrote.
“But revealing plaintiff’s identity to the public adds little if any benefit to the public’s understanding of the lawfulness of the government action here.”
Her complaint identified mother and daughter by initials which if genuine would make identification easy in a small community.
She provided initials for father but didn’t name him as a plaintiff.
Harmon wrote that on March 30, 2020, the mother, who was pregnant, entered the U.S. near Hidalgo, Texas with the father and their three-year-old son.
According to the lawsuit, the family found border patrol agents who called for an ambulance. She claimed emergency medical staff determined she wasn’t experiencing contractions and hospitalization was unnecessary.
Agents transported the family to a detention center near McAllen, Texas.
The mother experienced contractions a day later and agents transported her to South Texas Health Care System.
Doctors performed an episiotomy which involved an incision in her perineum to enlarge the vaginal opening. Her child was delivered on April 1, 2020.
The mother remained in custody throughout her hospital stay with agents in uniform standing guard in her room except during delivery.
The hospital discharged her the next day with her daughter.
They allegedly instructed her to follow up in a week with a doctor who assisted in delivery.
The suit claims agents took her and her daughter to a detention center holding father and son.
They allegedly remained in detention for days with no beds.
Mother and baby allegedly slept on concrete benches or aluminum sheets.
Agents allegedly did not provide any clothing for the newborn U.S. citizen.
Mother and father repeated their fear of persecution or torture in Honduras.
Agents allegedly said the family would be expelled to Reynosa, Mexico due to Covid.
Mother and father protested that they knew no one in Reynosa and would have no place to stay.
They asked agents how to register the newborn as a U.S. citizen and agents allegedly said she couldn’t return to the U.S. until she was 18.
She claims the statements were false and agents knew they were false.
Agents expelled the family to Reynosa on April 6, 2020.
They allegedly didn’t provide the mother an opportunity to attend an appointment with a member of the team that facilitated her daughter’s birth.
The suit claims they knew or should have known of risks facing them.
It also claims they expelled the family with clothes they wore and no cell phone, money, or food.
The family allegedly slept in a park the first night and a generous woman took them into her home the next day.
The mother allegedly couldn’t obtain post natal care, had difficulty walking, and experienced vaginal bleeding.
Without money the mother could not receive needed medical care.
The mother claims the stitches tore open and she removed them herself.
“For the remainder of their time in Mexico they survived with help from charities for food and shelter,” the suit claims.
Advocates submitted a parole request in 2021 and Homeland Security paroled the family into the U.S. 358 days after their expulsion.