Nine-year-old San Antonio student Katherine Bracho and her father were released Friday from the South Texas Immigrant Processing Center in Dilley, roughly an hour southwest of the Alamo City.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, met with the girl and her father earlier in the day as he made his ninth visit to the trailer prison. During the interaction, he gave Katherine a box full of letters from her classmates at Northside ISD’s Bonnie Ellison Elementary School.
Last week, Castro said ICE agents used the girl’s father, Jesús, to draw her into custody with him. ICE arrested Jesús Bracho but later “forced him to lure his daughter out so they could take her too,” Castro said on an Instagram video, adding that “she was scared and didn’t know where she was going.”
On a Friday afternoon press call, Castro said that Jesús and Katherine had been locked up at the Dilley site for more than a month. The facility is the only detention center holding immigrant families rounded under the Trump White House’s mass-deportation program.
A congressional delegation as well as Washington, D.C.-based leaders of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement joined Castro on the inspection visit.
Castro said he met with three women on his visit, one of them five months pregnant. The pregnant woman had been scammed while inside the facility by someone claiming they could fix her case for $3,000, the congressman added.
As of Friday, the total number of detainees at the Dilley site stood at 576. Of those, 417 are single women, 42 are mothers, 29 are fathers and 92 are children. Last week, the lockup held 79 kids, meaning the youth population increased by 16% over that time.
During the press call, Castro demanded the release of a San Antonio mother, whose son is a U.S. Navy midshipman. The congressman nominated the midshipman, David Garcia, to the U.S. Naval Academy due to his academic achievements.
Garcia’s mother, Maria Rocio Rocha, had been granted parole in place as she sought her green card, according to Castro. However, ICE detained her when she showed up for her green card interview.
Rocha granted Castro permission to visit her, but upon arrival, ICE officials refused to let the congressman see her, saying he hadn’t given them more than 48 hours’ notice.
“The Trump Administration is targeting military families and leaving a dark stain on our nation,” Castro said in a statement.
During Friday’s visit to Dilley, Castro also wanted to check on a 5-year-old Austin boy named Liam Tadeo. However, the child and his father were deported the day before.
“This has shattered their family, who are trying to pick up the pieces the best they can,” Castro said in an Instagram post. “Liam has already been deeply traumatized by Dilley, where he was not allowed to see his mom.”
Liam was scheduled to begin kindergarten this week in an Austin public school. Castro said he would have to check with the family before stating where the boy and his father are now located.
Castro tried to meet with the pair on another visit to Dilley last week, but ICE officials refused because he hadn’t obtained permission from the father, the congressman said. Even though the mother had given Castro her blessing to meet with the child, officials denied the meeting.
ICE requires permission from the detained parent only, Castro said.
“They keep playing these games, they keep changing the rules, and that’s because they want to mete out punishment to those who are detained,” Castro said.
He added: “They’re doing it out of sheer cruelty.”
Neither Liam nor father has a criminal record.
Texas politics is a mess. We make it a readable mess.
Sign up for San Antonio Current’s new “Texas Politics This Week” newsletter.
Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
