She was free to go, but - they had to take Sofi.

Good morning y'all. I want to update you on the story of Angelica and Sofi. My colleague, @frankncarlson and I met them in a Juarez shelter on Tuesday night. Angelica is Sofi's grandmother. She's raised Sofi since Sofi was 4-months old. She was 3 when we met her this week.

4:20 AM - 23 Jun 2018



In short (for those who don't want to watch 5 mins of video): the family was targeted by Mexican cartels. Angelica has seen her own family members killed. She's buried her own son and grandchildren. Leaving Mexico, she says, wasn't an option, if they wanted to stay alive.


Sofi, she says, has seen and lived through things no child should see and live through. They were both receiving psychological counseling at the Juarez shelter.


Angelica crossed legally into the US on Wednesday morning with Sofi, at the Paso Del Norte bridge into El Paso. She refused to cross illegally because she wanted to respect the laws of the land. She's broken no laws, she said, she just wants to seek asylum and keep Sofi alive.


US officials have repeatedly said anyone looking to enter the US should do so legally, at a port of entry, where they'll be processed in turn, and won't be subject to family separation. That's not what happened with Angelica and Sofi.

Angelica carried with her Sofi's original birth certificate and a document from the Mexican equivalent of child protective services showing she had legal guardianship of Sofi.
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She also had a contact number for her daughter - Sofi's mother - who had crossed into the US recently with her younger child. She provided all this info to CBP officials at the crossing. I was behind her in line at the processing center and heard her do so.

Angelica and Sofi were taken into CBP custody Wednesday morning for additional interviews. This is a normal part of the process. For two days, they were held at the Paso Del Norte facility. This, we're told, is also totally normal. Often those initial interviews take 2-3 days.


Friday afternoon we got a call from Angelica. That morning, she says, CBP officials told her she would be free to go -- in other words, no criminal prosecution, no fraud, no reason to suspect she is anything other than a legitimate asylum seeker - but they had to take Sofi.

Link to tweet