Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 27 February 2018

ACLU sues US over mother, child seeking asylum Man charged in

attempt to steal
By N. MERCHANT
HOUSTON (AP) — The Amer- smuggled drugs
ican Civil Liberties Union ac-
cused the U.S. government By WILSON RING
on Monday of unlawfully Associated Press
separating a Congolese MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A
woman and her 7-year-old North Carolina man in-
daughter by holding them tended to steal almost
in different immigration 200 pounds of counterfeit
facilities, two time zones Xanax pills that a Quebec
apart, after they sought man had smuggled into
asylum four months ago. the United States on a sled
The ACLU said the family's before the Canadian man
case is one example of the was apprehended in Ver-
practice of President Don- mont, federal investigators
ald Trump's administration said.
to target immigrant fami- Yazid Al Fayyad Finn was
lies who are seeking asylum arrested earlier this month
through processes estab- in North Carolina and
lished under U.S. law. charged with attempting
Trump has not announced to possess the drug, ac-
a formal policy to hold cording to federal court
adult asylum seekers sepa- documents.
rately from their children, A vehicle drives into the Otay Mesa detention center in San Diego, Calif. The American Civil Liber- Finn traveled to Vermont in
but top administration of- ties Union is suing the U.S. government over what it calls the unlawful separation of a Congolese January 2016 after learn-
woman and her 7-year-old daughter who sought asylum after crossing the California-Mexico
ficials have said they be- border. ing on the internet that a
lieve the asylum process (AP Photo/Elliot Spagat) load of "counterfeit Xanax"
is overwhelmed and chal- was going to be smuggled
lenged by people making spoken around six times Trump administration has ever going to see her from Quebec to Vermont,
frivolous claims. by phone since their sepa- called for ending the Flores again." according to an affidavit.
The woman is being held at ration. The ACLU is asking settlement as part of its de- Under previous administra- He later told agents of the
a detention center in San that the woman and her mands for changes to im- tions, immigration authori- U.S. Drug Enforcement Ad-
Diego, while her daughter daughter be released to a migration laws. ties charged thousands of ministration that stealing
is being held in a facility shelter that serves asylum Lee Gelernt, deputy di- people with illegally enter- the pills — which authori-
for unaccompanied minor seekers from African coun- rector of the ACLU's Immi- ing or re-entering the U.S., ties said had a street value
children in Chicago, about tries or be placed in a fam- grants' Rights Project, said holding them in jail and of $1.6 million — would be
2,000 miles (3,200 kilome- ily detention center run by Monday that the woman is at times separating them "like hitting the lottery."
ters) away. U.S. Immigration and Cus- from a village in the Demo- from their children. But Gel- Finn told agents he was
The mother and daughter toms Enforcement. cratic Republic of the Con- ernt and other immigrant involved in the distribution
entered the U.S. together The U.S. Department of go and speaks little English. advocates say the Trump of Xanax in the Greenville,
in California in November Homeland Security de- The woman passed the ini- administration is detaining North Carolina, area and
and turned themselves into clined to comment on the tial screening to determine more adults seeking asylum he sold the pills for $3 to $5
U.S. Customs and Border lawsuit. if she had a "credible fear" and separating them from each.
Protection agents. Initially, The U.S. government is of returning to the Demo- their children than in previ- Robert Bell, a representa-
the two were kept togeth- bound to release immi- cratic Republic of the ous years. tive of the Federal Public
er. But about five days af- grant children from cus- Congo, the lawsuit said. Advocates have also ac- Defender's for the Eastern
ter they entered the U.S., tody if possible and other- Gelernt declined to name cused border agents of un- District of North Carolina,
the child was taken away wise hold children in the her or discuss her case in lawfully turning away peo- said Finn is in the process
"screaming and crying, "least restrictive setting" detail, saying she could be ple who are seeking asylum of being transferred to Ver-
pleading with guards not available, according to in danger if she's ultimately at the U.S.-Mexico border. mont. He had no further
to take her away from her the 1997 Flores settlement, denied asylum and has to The Trump administration comment.
mother," according to a which ended a long-run- return to Congo. has broadly cracked down Cedrik Bourgault-Morin,
lawsuit filed in federal court ning lawsuit over the treat- For now, Gelernt said, "she on people who cross the then 21, of Quebec, was
in San Diego. The woman ment of immigrant children, is worried sick about her U.S.-Mexico border without wearing white camouflage
and her daughter have and later court rulings. The daughter, whether she's legal permission.q in the early morning hours
Police: of Jan. 13, 2016, when U.S.
Border Patrol agents ap-
Student tried to enter school with loaded gun prehended him.
They said he was pulling a
sled containing 300 vacu-
By A. IZAGUIRRE was scanned just after 7:30 of the student, who had Police Department regu- um-sealed bags of Xanax
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A stu- a.m. at Samuel Fels High no disciplinary problems larly responds to reports of into the United States at
dent tried to enter a Phila- School in northeast Phila- or known issues with class- guns in schools but that it Troy, Vermont.
delphia high school Mon- delphia. mates. Kinebrew said the is "relatively rare" for a stu- At around the same time
day with a stolen .40-caliber "Right now it doesn't look boy may have had the gun dent to have an actual fire- and about a half mile
handgun loaded with a like he was up there to in the bag to conceal it arm, Kinebrew said. A state away, another agent in
dozen rounds, police said. settle a grudge or anything from his parents. The school report tallied four incidents an unmarked car spotted
Capt. Sekou Kinebrew said like that," Kinebrew said. was placed on lockdown. of handgun possession and Finn in a vehicle. Finn told
it's unclear why the 15-year- Kinebrew said the gun There were no injuries. The 38 incidents of BB or pellet agents he had come to
old boy had the gun, which had been reported stolen student faces weapons gun possession in Philadel- Vermont to go skiing at the
was found when the bag from a car near the home charges. The Philadelphia phia schools last year.q nearby Jay Peak resort.q