Emmanuel Garcia, 14, was held at the Office of Refugee Resettlement — a facility for unaccompanied minors — since early October.
HOUSTON — A teen with autism who has been held in federal custody for nearly two months was released on Friday evening.
Editor’s note: The video in this article is from a previous report.
“After 48 days, a federal judge has ordered for Emmanuel Gonzalez to be released. Emmanuel should have never been detained, but now that he is, we are elated that he shall be returned to his biological mother, where he belongs. We thank all of the people who have shown an outpour of support, and we hope to continue to support this family in navigating our very complex immigration system,” FIEL Executive Director Cesar Espinosa said in an emailed press release.
Emmanuel Garcia, 14, went missing while his mother and sister were selling fruit on a Houston street corner on Oct. 4. He wandered away from his mother but was found the next day by Houston police. He was eventually turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement — a facility for unaccompanied minors.
His mother maintained that he didn’t belong there because he was not unaccompanied.
The case ignited a heated confrontation at City Hall after Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz questioned whether Emmanuel actually has autism because, according to Diaz, he was able to communicate clearly when officers found him.
Diaz defended his officers, saying they only turned to federal officials as a last resort after they said Emmanuel claimed to be homeless and from another country. Diaz also said the teen provided a slightly different name than the one on the missing person report.
HPD said they spent four hours before they said CPS recommended they contact the Department of Health and Human Services. Although it was initially believed the teen was in ICE custody, the agency said it did not have the teen in their custody at any point, but that it got a call from HPD to assist with placing him with ORR.
Emmanuel’s mom and FIEL Houston learned he had emergency surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital while he was in custody.
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