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Mother looses baby for not speaking English
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This is one of those stories that's hard to know the full facts of, but it's certainly very troubling as it stands. Cirila Baltazar Cruz's newborn daughter was taken from her two days after birth in large part because Cruz, who is from Mexico, only speaks Chatino, which is spoken by about 50,000 people. Her lack of ability to speak English is sited as a reason to take custody from her, because she "was unable to call for assistance for transportation to the hospital [to give birth]" but considering that she appears to have been in the hospital when her daughter was born, it's hard to see how that's relevant. The hospital was only able to provide her with a Spanish translator, but were still somehow able to come up with the information that she exchanged sex for a place to live (which snarkier people than I pointed out sounds a whole lot like traditional marriage) and planned to place her baby for adoption. But if that's true, why didn't they help facilitate an adoption, instead of calling social services? According to a press release from the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, the hospital social worker listed three reasons that Cruz was unfit:
1. That she was an illegal immigrant. Which, the last I heard, was grounds for deportation, not a loss of custody.
2. That she hadn't purchased baby supplies like a crib or formula. Which . . . well, for one thing, neither did I. I nursed my babies and slept with them, so why would I? The people around me thought that was a little eccentric, but nobody thought it was neglect. "No formula?" For real?
3. That no speaking English thing.
The larger point here is that Cruz did not have a fair hearing, what with being completely unable to communicate with social workers and court officials. MIRA was able to locate a translator, though, so it seems like the courts could have as well. And unless the courts are ready to call me negligent for taking my kids to Mexico on vacation even though I don't speak Spanish, "not speaking the language" is not a reason to strip a newborn from her mother.
In the meantime, baby Ruby has apparently been placed with a local couple who seem to be under the impression that she's theirs forever. I have to wonder if they were informed of the circumstances? It seems like more people than Cirila Baltazar Cruz and Ruby stand to be hurt by this whole fiasco.
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