CHICAGO — Federal CBP officials have refused to allow three U.S. Citizen girls, ages 9, 10, and 13, to leave the airport because the girls parents are believed to be undocumented immigrants.
Activists here say the children were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and will not be released until their parents pick them up. They’ve been detained since 3 a.m. The children flew back from Mexico early this morning with a cousin who had a valid visitor visa, the activists say. The girls’ cousin is being detained, too.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers deemed the cousin "inadmissible," according to a statement issued by a department spokesperson. The statement didn't offer further details about why the cousin's status. "U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers have attempted numerous times today to reach family members to pick up the children. As of 2 pm [Central time] CBP Officers are still awaiting a legal guardian to arrive and pick the children up," the statement read.
Another source has more details, including video of Rep. Jan Schakowsky arriving to back calls for the girls’ release:
CHICAGO, IL — Three minor children who are U.S. citizens are being held at O'Hare International Airport until their parents, who are undocumented immigrants, can pick them up. The incident started around 3 a.m. Thursday, when U.S. Customs and Border Patrol rejected the tourist visa of a cousin who was traveling with the children from Mexico, Anna Maran, organizing director at PASO, the West Suburban Action Project said.
The three girls’ parents contacted the Mexican Consulate after Border Patrol agents refused to allow the girls’ cousin, who has a valid visa to the US, to enter the country with them. The girls had been traveling back from a visit to Mexico with the cousin.
US Customs and Border Patrol says the girls cannot be released unless their parents come to pick them up in person. The parents fear this is a ruse to get them into ICE/CBP custody, and deportation proceedings.
"I am here to demand an explanation why they would waylay these two children," Schakowsky, D-IL(9), said. "I'm going to go in and see why our government is acting this way to three minors that have every right to travel, three citizens of the United States of America. I feel that it's a kind of kidnapping of children by our government and I am very fed up with what we are doing." She said she brought all her identification to talk to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol as a U.S. Congresswoman. "Let them try and keep me out," she said.
NB: EDITED TO CORRECT SPELLING OF REP SCHAKOWSKY’s NAME, CORRECT LINKS