Ten-year-old Spokane resident Karla Tiul Baltazar and her father, Arnoldo Tiul Caal, were released from a federal migrant detention center in Texas by order of a judge. After spending a night at a San Antonio shelter, they flew home to Spokane. The family, originally from Guatemala, had been living in the U.S. since 2019, and their asylum case was still pending at the time of their Jan. 9 detention.
Authorities said the detention stemmed from the father missing 10 required check-ins with immigration authorities over three years. But the family’s advocates noted a contradiction: at an in-person hearing several weeks before the arrest, Tiul Caal was told their next court date in the case was not scheduled until 2027. While held at the Dilley center in Texas — which has been the subject of lawsuits over poor conditions — the girl developed a fever and began vomiting.
After their release, the father was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor to track his location. Lawyers and volunteers who helped the family expressed relief at their return but emphasized systemic problems within immigration enforcement and the harsh conditions in such centers, which are particularly dangerous for children.
Based on: Spokane girl, father freed from ICE custody in Texas