A federal judge in California awarded more than $1 million to two child brothers who were detained by Customs and Border Protection in 2019 even though the brothers were U.S. citizens, court records show.
Most of that amount went to the sister, then 9, who was held in custody for about 34 hours after she and her 14-year-old brother were detained while using the San Ysidro border crossing from Mexico to California. .
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel on Friday awarded the sister $1.1 million; US$175,000 for the brother, who was detained for around 14 hours; and $250,000 to her mother, Thelma Medina, records show. The family filed a lawsuit in 2022.
Curiel wrote in his opinion that the children’s detention violated the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.
“The Court therefore concludes that the conduct of the United States was extreme and outrageous,” he wrote. “No thought was given to the likely consequences that detaining children for 14 and 34 hours would have on them.”
The children lived with their parents in Tijuana, Mexico, but were born in the U.S. and are citizens who attended school in San Ysidro, California, according to court documents.
The brothers were stopped on March 18, 2019, while using the pedestrian walkway after a CBP officer saw what that officer thought was a wart in the sister’s passport photo, when she did not have any warts, according to documents judicial.
In a secondary inspection, an officer was selected “because he had a reputation for obtaining confessions,” Curiel wrote. The brother gave an incorrect answer about when he and his sister last crossed paths together, and she was then taken in for a one-on-one interview.
The family who sued said the sister was pressured to say she was someone else, a cousin, while the U.S. government argued that her brother said she was a cousin without being asked by law enforcement. Curiel did not accept the US explanation, doubting why her sister would falsely confess to being someone else if that were the case.
“It was unreasonable to detain a 9 and 14 year old child on suspicion of false citizenship claims while Julia’s mother and godmother were trying to contact them and without doing any further investigation for more than 5 hours in the middle of the workday,” wrote Curiel.
While her son was in custody, Medina tried in vain to get answers from CBP. She contacted Coronado, Calif., police and also called the Mexican consulate for help, she said in the lawsuit.
Medina’s lawsuit calls the moment of separation “33 hours of terror.” He alleged that during the time his daughter was in custody, the girl “would ask about her parents and brother, and she would often cry.”
She suffered night terrors after being released and had to see a therapist, court documents say.
A CBP spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.
A bench trial – meaning it was before a judge and not a jury – was held in March. Curiel, in Friday’s ruling, found the government was liable for false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
Medina said in a statement released by his lawyer on Wednesday: “We are very grateful to Judge Curiel for caring about what happened to my children.”
The attorney, Joe McMullen, said after the incident came to light: “CBP leadership took no action to investigate or correct this behavior.” He said no other child should be treated the way the brothers were.
The San Ysidro port of entry is the busiest land crossing with Mexico in the US. It processes an average of about 70,000 northbound vehicle passengers and 20,000 northbound pedestrians every day, the government says.
San Ysidro is part of San Diego which is just across the US-Mexico border in Tijuana.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
