一名移民律师称，一名3岁女童被联邦政府关押了5个多月，据称遭到了性虐待，尽管她的父亲是合法的永久居民，可以照顾她。
南得克萨斯州公益庇护代表项目的律师劳伦·费舍尔·弗洛雷斯告诉美国广播公司新闻，这个化名为“莉莉”的孩子在抵达难民安置中心后不久就被安置在难民安置办公室南部边境2025年9月16日。
根据今年2月提交给联邦法院的人身保护令申请，孩子的父亲“立即”提交了赞助文件，但他有五个多月没有与女儿团聚。
“她的父亲立即填写了赞助文件，然后被给予了一系列其他要求，这些要求继续增长，即使ORR政策表明，对于父母来说，释放应该在10天内，”弗洛雷斯说。
弗洛雷斯说，在父亲试图争取释放3岁的孩子期间，这个蹒跚学步的孩子据称在德克萨斯州哈林根的康复寄养家庭受到一个大孩子的多次性虐待。
弗洛雷斯告诉美国广播公司新闻，奥尔最初告诉父亲发生了“事故”，几个月后才通过他的律师了解到虐待的细节。弗洛雷斯说，父亲和3岁的孩子现在在一起了。
监督难民安置办公室的卫生与公众服务部的发言人没有立即回应ABC新闻的置评请求。
“这改变了她的生活。这改变了她家庭的生活，”弗洛雷斯说。而且真的很难看到它发生。"
这些指控来自于平均护理时间流动儿童根据卫生与人类服务部的数据，截至2026年2月，已从2024年的24天增加到195天。
弗洛雷斯说:“拘留疲劳症确实对儿童造成了伤害，我们已经看到，在被长时间拘留的儿童中，抑郁、焦虑和自残等行为有所增加。”
Immigrant toddler was sexually abused in custody while her father sought her release, lawyer says
An immigration attorney says a 3-year-old girl spent more than five months in federal custody -- and was allegedly sexually abused -- even though her father, a lawful permanent resident, was available to care for her.
Lauren Fisher Flores, an attorney with the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, told ABC News that the child, identified by the pseudonym "Lily," was placed in an Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelter shortly after being separated from her mother when they arrived at thesouthern borderon Sept. 16, 2025.
According to a habeas corpus petition filed in federal court in February, the child's father "immediately" submitted sponsorship paperwork, but he was not reunited with his daughter for over five months.
"Her father immediately filled out the sponsorship paperwork and then was given a series of other requirements that continued to grow even though ORR policy indicates that for a parent, the release should be within 10 days," Flores said.
During the time the father was trying to secure the 3-year-old's release, the toddler was allegedly sexually abused multiple times by an older child at the Hands of Healing foster home in Harlingen, Texas, Flores said.
Flores told ABC News the father was initially told by ORR that an "accident" had occurred, and only learned details of the abuse months later through his attorneys. The father and the 3-year-old are now together, Flores said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that oversees the Office of Refugee Resettlement, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
"This has changed her life. It's changed her family's life," Flores said. And it's really hard to see it happening."
The allegations come as the average length of care formigrant childrenhas increased to 195 days as of February 2026, compared to 24 days in 2024, according to Department of Health and Human Services data.
"Detention fatigue takes a real toll on children, and we have seen an increase in behaviors like depression, anxiety, and self‑harm amongst children who are detained for a long period of time," Flores said.
