Illegal Immigrant separated from child with Downs Syndrome detained as a smuggling witness

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Following outrage that border officials separated a mother from her child with Down syndrome, U.S. officials set the record straight by stating Wednesday that the family was separated because the mother might be a criminal smuggler.

“This smuggler has a criminal history including a flight, escape, aiding and abetting making it important that we prosecute,” the Customs and Border Patrol statement reads. Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso raised questions at a news conference Tuesday, pointing to the grave mistreatment that families must endure because of the federal government’s zero-tolerance policy. The family was not separated because the mother entered the U.S. illegally, but because she serves as a “material witness” in a smuggling case, the Dallas News reported.

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