A San Antonio teen whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested on her way to church has been released from Dilley’s South Texas Immigrant Processing Center, as has her father, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro said Tuesday.
Last week, Castro — a San Antonio Democrat — posted that federal agents detained 16-year-old Emely Charloth Suaza Chambo and told her father, Fernando Suaza Ortiz, to come pick her up or she would be sent out of state. When Ortiz showed up for his daughter, they locked him up too, Castro added.
Castro and a congressional delegation met with the father and daughter last week during a visit to the trailer prison in Dilley, Texas — located about an hour southwest of San Antonio.
Members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus — including U.S. Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Luz Rivas of California — joined Castro on the mission.
“She was depressed and missed her family,” Castro said of his encounter with Emely.
At a press conference following last week’s visit, Castro said Emely was a student at Churchill High School in San Antonio and her dad was working at the Hilton Garden Inn. Neither Emely nor her dad had committed a crime, according to the congressman, who added they had applied for asylum and that their case was pending when they were arrested.
“They should never have been locked up, and we won’t stop until every child is free,” Castro said.
At last week’s meeting with the press, Castro said the number of children at the trailer prison had increased to 112 from 96 in May.
After their tour, the Democratic lawmakers renewed calls for closing the Dilley detention center, the only U.S. prison that holds children.
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