The Honduran family entered the country legally last fall seeking asylum. Lawyers fear their deportation is imminent and are suing for their release, worried about the boy's health.
Leukemia in children requires consistent treatment over a period of years to provide a good shot at long-term survival. That care would be dXXisrupted, the family's lawyer says, if the family is sent back to Honduras.
“This is a family that did everything right,” Elora Mukherjee, a lawXXyer for the family and director of Columbia Law School’s Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, said. The family, who isn’t identified in court records due to threats they face in Honduras, hasn’t been accused of crimes anywhere, she said. “To subject this family — with a 6-year-old who has a leukemia diagnosis — to arrest and detention is illegal,