(WBAP/KLIF) – The Dallas-born teenager who was wrongfully detained by U.S. Border Patrol is planning to sue the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
18-year-old Francisco Galicia is a U.S. citizen, born in Dallas. He was detained at a border checkpoint in South Texas while he was traveling to a soccer tryout at Ranger College.
Border Patrol agents said they believed his documents to be fake. It was later learned Galicia was in fact a U.S. citizen as he claimed. He was released Tuesday, three weeks after he was detained.
Galicia’s attorney, Claudia Galan, told WBAP/KLIF Thursday that there was no reason to hold her client for that long.
“They in fact checked the database and confirmed he was a U.S. citizen,” said Galan. “Despite that, they kept him in custody.
Galan said she plans to file the lawsuit later this summer.
This lawsuit is a civil lawsuit against the U.S. Government because my client was wrongfully detained,” said Galan. “The law provides relief for wrongful detention.”
Officials with Border Patrol claim Galicia “provided conflicting reports regarding status of citizenship after being apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol and transferred into Immigration and Customs Enforcement Custody.”
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