Erika Mateo, a 24-year-old pregnant Guatemalan woman, was taken into custody and held under armed guard by the Department of Homeland Security and placed under expedited removal. After giving birth, she was transferred to ICE custody and denied access to her attorney, family and friends.

On April 28, Erika Mateo, a 24-year-old Guatemalan woman who was 9-months pregnant, was found wandering alone in the Arizona desert after crossing the Mexican border and seeking asylum in the US.

Mateo was immediately taken into custody and, after going into labor the following morning, was hospitalized at Tucson Medical Center (TMC) under armed guard by the Department of Homeland Security. She was immediately placed under expedited removal—a process to quickly remove her without the right to have her case brought before a judge.

After giving birth, Mateo was swiftly transferred into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who stood watch outside her hospital room. During her recovery she was denied access to her attorney, family and friends. Mateo stated that she refused to let go of her newborn baby, Emily, for fear that she would be taken away.

Mateo had traveled 2,000 miles to escape a violent and unsafe living situation in Guatemala, where she feared for her own life and that of her unborn baby. After crossing the US-Mexico border she was accidentally separated from her group and got lost in the Sonoran Desert. Mateo told USA Today that she feared she was going to die. “I walked and walked, but everything looked the same,” she said. “It was like walking in place. I would burst into tears pleading with God to help me find a way or for someone to find me.”…

  • Hirom@beehaw.org
    1·
    6 days ago

    She was immediately placed under expedited removal—a process to quickly remove her without the right to have her case brought before a judge

    Mateo’s attorney, Luis Campos, told reporters that when he attempted to visit her at TMC, ICE agents blocked the entrance to her hospital room

    Isn’t she being denied the right to a fair trial, which is proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United States Constitution? And the right to counsel?

    I hope the USA see consequences for ignoring basic human rights and the rule of law. Including effects on tourism and foreign investments; fewer people would come to a country or invest in a country that blatantly ignore the rule of law and human rights.