Mother who sued over separation in Arizona reunited with son
Jun 22, 2018, 9:02 AM
Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia, left, embraces her son Darwin Micheal Mejia as she speaks at a news conference following their reunion at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Friday, June 22, 2018, in Linthicum, Md. The Justice Department agreed to release Mejia-Mejia's son after she sued the U.S. government in order to be reunited following their separation at the U.S. border. She has filed for political asylum in the U.S. following a trek from Guatemala. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
A Guatemalan woman who sued the federal government after authorities separated her from her young son at the Arizona-Mexico border has been reunited with him.
The Baltimore Sun reported the pair were reunited at BWI Marshall Airport early Friday after a month apart.
Beata Mariana de Jesus Mejia-Mejia had sued the Trump administration this week, alleging border agents took the boy two days after they had crossed the border on May 19 near San Luis, Arizona.
She said she and Darwin Mejia-Mejia, 7, had been seeking asylum.
The boy was sent to a children’s detention center in Phoenix.
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The 38-year-old mother was released on bail last Friday, the Baltimore Sun reported. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that ended family separation at the border. The order would “maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources.”
The “zero-tolerance” portion of the policy, which will prosecute adults who illegally cross the border, remained in effect.
House Republicans have struggled to overhaul immigration. Differences between conservatives and moderates delayed a vote on a bill until next week.
The House rejected a proposal that included $25 billion for Trump’s wall and a path to citizenship for young immigrants who have lived in the U.S. illegally since childhood.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
