Federal Agency Faces Lawsuit After 3-Year-Old’s Abuse in Texas Care
A 3-year-old girl’s case is drawing new scrutiny to federal immigrant child custody after her family said she was sexually abused while held for months in a government-arranged foster placement in Texas. The conflict is not just the allegation itself, but how long it allegedly took for her father to learn what happened.
According to the Associated Press, the child crossed the border with her mother last September and was separated after her mother was charged. She was then placed in ORR custody and later sent to foster care in Harlingen, Texas. AP reported that court records say the girl disclosed abuse by an older child in that placement, and her attorneys say the father was initially told only that there had been an “accident.”
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AP also reported that the family turned to federal court through a habeas petition, after months of delay in reunification, and that the child was released soon after. ORR and HHS were named in the lawsuit and did not respond to AP’s requests for comment. The case now adds pressure to a broader debate over longer detention times for immigrant children under current federal policy.
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