Asylum seeker Yazmin Juarez appeared in front of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday to testify on the death of her 19-month-old child, whose illness was left untreated while they were in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Juarez, who is filing a $60 million lawsuit against the US for the wrongful death of her daughter Mariee, gave a tearful testimony on the circumstances that led to Mariee’s fatal illness.
Juarez told Congress that she and Mariee fled Guatemala in spring 2018 to seek asylum in the U.S because she was “more afraid of what might happen to us if we stayed.”
“So we came to the United States where I hoped to build a better, safer life for us,” Juarez said through a translator. “Unfortunately that did not happen. Instead I watched my baby girl die slowly and painfully just a few months before her second birthday.”
Yazmin Juarez, a Guatemalan migrant testifying on her experience in ICE custody: "I watched my baby girl die slowly and painfully just a few months before her 2nd birthday." pic.twitter.com/KnuJcB2wpI
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) July 10, 2019
According to Juarez, Mariee was “very healthy” until after they were sent to an ICE facility in Dilley, Texas, where many sick children were being held in detention. Within a week, the baby became sick with a respiratory illness. However, ICE agents never allowed Juarez take Mariee to a doctor in the facility, forcing Juarez to rush her daughter to the ER immediately after they were finally released from the center.
Mariee spent six weeks in the hospital and “suffered horrible pain” before she died, said Juarez.
“I couldn’t even hold her or hug her or console her when she asked for her mother,” she said. “It was a terrible pain to see my child in a situation and circumstance like this one and as a mother, I wish that I could have taken her place.”
“I’m here today because I don’t want any more little angels to suffer the way Mariee did and the way I am now,” Juarez said near the end of her opening statement. “I don’t want any more mothers or fathers to lose children.”
When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) asked Juarez if she’d witnessed a culture of cruelty at the detention center, Juarez said that an ICE agent had told her, “You know, this country is for Americans, Trump is my president, and we can take your little girl away from you and lock you in jail.”
A Guatemalan migrant said an ICE agent told her "You know, this country is for Americans, Trump is my president, and we can take your little girl away from you and lock you in jail." pic.twitter.com/zO598jkb0D
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) July 10, 2019
It’s all about the cruelty.
I wonder if this is what the then-candidate had in mind when he said he would bring back torture, “and much worse.”
As he heard those words, Stephen Miller was overcome by a broad, evil grin, kinda like this:
Would US joining the International Criminal Court require congressional ratification? I think some type of more neutral / world court would be ideal for depoliticizing future prosecution of the Trump criminals from top to bottom. They can prosecute Cheney and the rest of those bastards while they’re at it.
According to the people around me, she broke the law and should suffer the consequences. So much for their culture of life. Trump is their president too.
I really didn’t know that seeking a better life was a capital offense, but damned if he didn’t make it possible.
Sometime this morning on NPR one their reporters was interviewing a CBP and union rep. in Texas. He talked about how hard the job has become because they’re not used to dealing with this amount of migrants. That the people he works for spend their own money on soap and toothbrushes but the employees can’t keep up with the demand. Such BS and not nary a challenge by the reporter.
This family separation policy started at the end of 2017, well before Sessions announced it in April of 2018. How long does it take to draw up (excuse the expression) battle plan? They’ve been ignoring the Flores Settlement Agreement since day one. This maladministration has not once described how they talked to the gov’ts or NGOs in the northern triangle countries to try and prevent migrants from making the trip. All they have in their toolbox is cruelty and death. Are we certain that all the separated children have #1 been accounted for, #2 reunited with family here or there, and #3 when they were tearing breast feeding infants from their mother’s breast how were they cared for?
There are medical associations at the border that have offered their services and been rebuffed. Donations directly to these detention centers have been rebuffed. Trump wanted more money, Mitch didn’t want accountability for that money, and as someone said “Money and supplies won’t stop retaliation and sexual assault.”