A federal judge in California awarded over $1 million to two child siblings who, despite being U.S. citizens, were detained by Customs and Border Protection in 2019, NBC News reports. The children lived with their parents in Tijuana, Mexico, but were born in the U.S. and are citizens who attended school in San Ysidro, California, according to court documents. Most of the court's award went to the sister, then 9, who was held in custody for around 34 hours after she and her 14-year-old brother were stopped while they were using the San Ysidro border crossing, a pedestrian bridge, from Mexico to California.
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel on Friday awarded $1.1 million to the sister; $175,000 to the brother, who was held for around 14 hours; and $250,000 to their mother, Thelma Medina, records show. Curiel wrote in his opinion that the children's detention violated the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure. “The Court therefore concludes that the United States’ conduct was extreme and outrageous,” he wrote. “Nor was any thought given to the probable consequences that holding the Children for 14 and 34 hours would have on them.” The siblings were stopped on March 18, 2019, as they used the pedestrian bridge after a CBP officer saw what the officer thought was a mole on the sister's passport card picture. The two were then questioned for hours, under what court records show as emotional duress. Medina’s suit calls the time of separation “33 hours of terror." It alleges that during her daughter's time in custody, the girl "asked about her parents and brother, and she often cried." Curiel found in Friday’s ruling that the government was liable for false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.