MCALLEN, TEXAS — The Office of Refugee Resettlement released a 3-year-old immigrant girl to her father two days after attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition in federal court. The girl had been placed in a foster home in Harlingen, Texas, where, according to court documents, she said she was sexually abused by an older child staying with her in the home.

The girl and her mother crossed the border near El Paso on Sept. 16 of last year without authorization, and the toddler was sent to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The girl's father, a legal permanent resident in the United States, waited five months to secure his daughter's release from federal custody. The government told the father it could not make an appointment to take his fingerprints for several months after the girl was placed in foster care.

According to the lawsuit, a caregiver noticed the girl's underwear was on backward, and the girl told the caregiver she was abused multiple times and it caused bleeding. The girl underwent a forensic examination and interview, according to the lawsuit. The older child accused of abusing the girl was removed from the foster care program, according to court documents. Lawyer Lauren Fisher Flores, legal director of the American Bar Association's ProBar project, said the abuse allegations were reported to local law enforcement.

Federal ORR officials told the father there had been an "accident" and his daughter would be examined. The father realized while attorneys were preparing the lawsuit that the "accident" officials referred to was alleged sexual abuse. The ORR and the Department of Health and Human Services were named in the child's lawsuit.

After attorneys sent a letter to the government in February, the government allowed the father to receive appointments for a fingerprinting background check, a home visit, and a DNA test. Attorneys have turned to habeas petitions to expedite the release of children to their parents and sponsors. Flores said her organization worked on eight habeas corpus petitions this year representing children who had been held in federal custody for an average of 225 days.

"Children deserve safety and they belong with their parents," Flores said. Neha Desai, managing director at Children's Human Rights and Dignity at the National Center for Youth Law, called the situation "yet another version of family separation." Desai said, "A bipartisan Congress designed protections around the simple principle that children should be released to their family quickly and safely. This administration has been consistently flouting its legal obligations to release children to their families, profoundly jeopardizing children's health and well-being."

After five months in federal custody, the girl began having nightmares and was easily upset. "She was never like that before," the father said. When the father and daughter reunited, the father cried and the girl was happy to see him. They now live in Chicago with the girl's grandparents while her case moves through immigration court.