Afghan family detained in LA is freed but review is pending
SANTA ANA, Calif. — An Afghan family of five who travelled to the United States on special visas and were detained by immigration officials at the Los Angeles airport were released from custody, according to the U.S. government and the family’s attorneys.
The mother, father and their three young sons, including a baby, arrived at the airport Thursday for a connecting flight to Washington state, where they planned to resettle.
Instead, U.S. immigration officials detained them and split them up. They planned to send the mother and children to a detention centre in Texas, but lawyers intervened over the weekend and got a federal judge to quash the transfer.
Homeland Security officials haven’t said why the family was held, while immigrant advocates asserted in a court petition that there was “absolutely no justification whatsoever.”