Guatemalan Woman Seeking Asylum Says Daughter Hurt In Shelter

MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — A Guatemalan woman seeking asylum is suing for the release of her 8-year-old daughter, who she says sustained injuries and illness after being forcibly separated crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and two local law firms announced Wednesday they've filed a lawsuit to immediately reunite Angelica Rebeca Gonzalez-Garcia with her daughter.

Gonzalez-Garcia says the two were apprehended in Arizona in May and separated. Gonzalez-Garcia was released in Colorado and now lives in Massachusetts, but her daughter remains in a Texas shelter.

Gonzalez-Garcia says her daughter was bruised by another child detainee and also contracted conjunctivitis, or pink eye, while in custody.

Federal officials did not immediately comment. The lawsuit comes after President Donald Trump last week ended his administration's practice of separating families detained at the border.

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