Border Patrol Detained a 9-Year-Old U.S. Citizen for Over a Day on Her Way to School

A 9-year-old girl was detained by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for a day and a half, NBC 7 San Diego has reported. Julia, a fourth grader, was detained on her way to school; she attends Nicoloff Elementary School in San Ysidro, a district of San Diego.

Julia’s mom, Thelma Galaxia, told NBC 7 that the 9-year-old and her 14-year-old brother, Oscar, were in a carpool, being driven from their home in Tijuana across the border to their school, with Michelle Cardenas, a friend of Galaxia's, and Cardenas’s two children. Arriving at 4:00 AM on Monday, March 18, the carpool encountered a long line to get into the U.S., so Cardenas told the children to walk to the border and planned to call them an Uber to get them to school.

It would’ve been a routine day for Julia and Oscar, both of whom are citizens with U.S. passports, but, Galaxia told NBC 7, CBP accused Julia of lying about who she was because the photo on her passport — in which she appears younger because it was taken a few years ago — didn’t look like her. Julia told NBC 7 that officers had accused her of being her cousin Melanie; officers also accused Oscar of smuggling.

“The younger child provided inconsistent information during her inspection, and CBP officers took the 9-year-old into custody to perform due diligence in confirming her identity and citizenship,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement to Teen Vogue. “CBP officers confirmed that the teenager was a U.S. citizen and he was permitted to enter the U.S. At about 6:30 PM on Tuesday, after confirming her identity and that she was a U.S. citizen, the girl was admitted to the United States and released to her mother.”

“CBP prioritizes the safety of the minors we encounter. It’s important that CBP officials positively confirm the identity of a child travelling [sic] without a parent or legal guardian,” the statement continued. “Some specifics of our techniques for determining the true identity of a person crossing the border are law enforcement sensitive information. In addition, some details of this case are restricted from release due to privacy concerns.”

“I was scared,” Julia said of her detention. “I was sad because I didn't have my mom or my brother. I was completely by myself.” She told NBC 7 she woke up multiple times during the night she spent in custody.

Galaxia told NBC 7 that Julia told Oscar that she was told by an officer they’d be released if she admitted to being her cousin, and that officers eventually got Oscar to sign a document stating that his little sister was his cousin.

“That is not true,” Galaxia told NBC 7. “She is my daughter. He was told [by CBP] that he would be taken to jail and they were going to charge him for human trafficking and sex trafficking.” Oscar told NBC 7 he felt bad about signing the document, but he just wanted to see his sister.

Galaxia got the Mexican consulate involved, and a consulate representative called her on Tuesday night to tell her that Julia would be released. The family reunited at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, where NBC 7 reported they “hugged, cried and embraced.”

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: What to Do If Border Patrol Asks You for Documentation

Source: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/border-patrol-detained-9-year-old-us-citizen-on-her-way-to-school