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REUTERS
NEW YORK
A HONDURAN mother and young son have filed a lawsuit against US authorities, claiming they were mistreated in detention facilities after they entered the country seeking asylum.
The lawsuit, which lawyers say is the first to seek damages by refugees held by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), says the"inhumane conditions" were an effort to pressure the pair to abandon their legal claims and to deter other migrants.
Suny Rodriguez, her husband and her son crossed into the United States in 2015 after fleeing Honduras where they feared for their lives, the complaint said.
The mother, 41, and son, 9, were released after four months in detention in Texas when an immigration judge ruled she was likely to be persecuted if she returned to Honduras. They were held separately from the father.
During their detention, they were forced to sleep at times on the floor and with lights on, harassed by staff at night and held in crowded, wet and cold rooms, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. The boy suffers from asthma, it said.
They also were prevented access to lawyers and kept in the dark as to the husband's whereabouts, it said.
The civil lawsuit comes as US authorities struggle to contain a surge of migrants fleeing gang violence in Central America.
