Courtesy: Luana Mazon
CHICACO (AP) – A federal judge in Chicago on Thursday ordered the U.S. government to release a 9-year-old Brazilian boy who was separated from his mother at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying their continued separation “irreparably harms them both.”
Judge Manish Shah mulled his decision for just a few hours before finding that Lidia Karine Souza can have custody of her son, Diogo, who has spent four weeks at a government-contracted shelter in Chicago.
Souza was recently staying with family in Hyannis.
Shah ordered that the child be released Thursday, but didn’t specify a time. Souza’s attorneys said she would pick up her son Thursday afternoon.
The mother, who has applied for asylum, was released from an immigrant detention facility in Texas on June 9.
“Judge Shah has vindicated the rule of law and taken a definitive step to allow Lidia’s son to finally be with her again. We are hopeful that this outcome will benefit other families facing similar circumstances,” attorneys Jesse Bless and Britt Miller said in a written statement.
The decision came two days after a different judge ordered the government to reunite more than 2,000 immigrant children with their families within 30 days, or 14 days for those younger than 5.
White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters declined to say Thursday whether the administration will be able to abide by the deadline. She said more than 500 children have been reunified with their families.
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