Breastfeeding Mother Says Officials Took Her Baby At Immigrant Detention Center

Doha Madani
Updated

An undocumented immigrant from Honduras recounted a story of federal agents separating her from her baby as she was breastfeeding, CNN reported Wednesday.

The unnamed woman said she was in an immigrant detention center awaiting prosecution for illegally entering the country when federal authorities took her daughter from her while she was trying to feed her. Attorney Natalia Cornelio, with the Texas Civil Rights Project, told CNN that in her interview with the migrant mother, the woman said she was handcuffed for resisting the separation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the family separation policy in May as a part of a “zero-tolerance” crackdown on immigration to the United States. President Donald Trump’s administration is taking children from parents who illegally enter the country, inciting backlash from legal groups and immigration activists.

A federal judge last week refused the administration’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that seeks to halt the government policy. U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw in San Diego ruled that, if true, Trump’s separation of families “is brutal, offensive, and fails to comport with traditional notions of fair play and decency.”

Nearly 1,800 immigrant families have been torn apart at the U.S.-Mexico border from October 2016 to February of this year, Reuters reported. Department of Health and Human Services official Steven Wagner told Congress in April the government had lost track of nearly 1,500 unaccompanied migrant children who had been placed with sponsors.

Related Coverage

Trump Administration To Divide Immigrant Families To Prosecute Parents For Illegal Entry

ACLU Suit Over Family Separations At Border Allowed To Advance

Catholic Cardinal Calls Trump's Immigrant Family Separations 'Immoral'

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Members of a caravan of migrants from Central America sleep near the San Ysidro checkpoint along the United States border.
Members of a caravan of migrants from Central America sleep near the San Ysidro checkpoint along the United States border.
Migrant caravan demonstrators climb the U.S.-Mexico border fence during a rally.
Migrant caravan demonstrators climb the U.S.-Mexico border fence during a rally.
Members of a caravan of migrants from Central America walk towards the United States border.
Members of a caravan of migrants from Central America walk towards the United States border.
Caravan members pass by signs marking the way to the United States border.
Caravan members pass by signs marking the way to the United States border.
People climb a section of border fence to look into the U.S.
People climb a section of border fence to look into the U.S.
Children look through the U.S.-Mexico border wall at Border Field State Park.
Children look through the U.S.-Mexico border wall at Border Field State Park.
Adults in the migrant caravan carry small children.
Adults in the migrant caravan carry small children.
People sit on top of the border wall during the March Without Borders at Friendship Park.
People sit on top of the border wall during the March Without Borders at Friendship Park.
People get ready to spend the night near the San Ysidro checkpoint.
People get ready to spend the night near the San Ysidro checkpoint.
Sleeping near the San Ysidro checkpoint.
Sleeping near the San Ysidro checkpoint.
People climb a section of border fence to look into the U.S.
People climb a section of border fence to look into the U.S.
Caravan members walk toward the United States border and customs facility.
Caravan members walk toward the United States border and customs facility.
Pro-migrant caravan demonstrators rally at the west end of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pro-migrant caravan demonstrators rally at the west end of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Members of a caravan of migrants from Central America and supporters gather on both sides of the border fence.
Members of a caravan of migrants from Central America and supporters gather on both sides of the border fence.
Pro-migrant caravan demonstrators, including a woman waving a Honduran flag, rally as some people climb the border wall.
Pro-migrant caravan demonstrators, including a woman waving a Honduran flag, rally as some people climb the border wall.
Members of the caravan that traveled across Mexico walk next to the border fence.
Members of the caravan that traveled across Mexico walk next to the border fence.
People sit on the top of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
People sit on the top of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
People stand along the border wall to look at the march on the U.S. side of the border at Friendship Park.
People stand along the border wall to look at the march on the U.S. side of the border at Friendship Park.
People climb a section of border fence to look into the U.S.
People climb a section of border fence to look into the U.S.
A child traveling with a caravan of migrants from Central America sleeps near the San Ysidro checkpoint.
A child traveling with a caravan of migrants from Central America sleeps near the San Ysidro checkpoint.
Central American migrants walk to El Chaparral border crossing.
Central American migrants walk to El Chaparral border crossing.
William Rafael Carranza Martinez looks through the border wall before marrying his partner at the beginning of the March Without Borders at Friendship Park.
William Rafael Carranza Martinez looks through the border wall before marrying his partner at the beginning of the March Without Borders at Friendship Park.

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