A 10-year-old girl from Minnesota has been released from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after spending a month in a detention facility in Dilley, Texas. Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano, a fourth-grader, and her mother were freed on Tuesday night, according to school officials. The family, originally from Ecuador, has an active asylum case.
Elizabeth was one of five students from the Columbia Heights school district detained by ICE during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. She and her mother were taken by federal agents on 6 January while on the way to school. The girl acted as an interpreter for her family, telling her father that officers would drop her off at school, but she never arrived. By the end of the day, both had been flown to Texas.
Concerns about Elizabeth's health grew after federal officials confirmed a measles outbreak at the Dilley facility, which houses families. Carolina Gutierrez, principal secretary at Highland Elementary, said Elizabeth was experiencing flu-like symptoms and her mother had broken out in hives, but they had not yet received a medical assessment.
Elizabeth's case was assigned to US Judge Fred Biery, who had earlier ordered the release of another detained child, five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. Judge Biery criticised the government's pursuit of deportation quotas, saying it risked traumatising children. On Monday, he issued an order blocking the removal of Elizabeth and her mother, giving the government five days to respond to their release petition. Their sudden release the following day came as a surprise, said Bobby Painter, managing attorney with the Texas Immigration Law Council, which represents the family.
Painter argued that the family should never have been detained, as they had followed proper procedures by presenting at the border as asylum seekers. “They did everything they were supposed to do and still found themselves detained and separated,” he said. Elizabeth and her mother were at a Texas shelter on Wednesday morning and were expected to return to Minnesota to reunite with her father.
