MCALLEN, TEXAS (AP) -- A South Texas woman's lawsuit against the federal government for deporting her 1-year-old daughter to Mexico will proceed.
That's after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court incorrectly dismissed Monica Castro's lawsuit.
Castro's daughter was deported, even though the child was a U.S. citizen.
The mother didn't see her daughter for three years after the Border Patrol deported her along with her illegal immigrant father, whom Castro had reported to authorities after an argument.
Castro met Omar Gallardo after moving from Corpus Christi to Lubbock with her family.
The Border Patrol was aware that her daughter was a U.S. citizen but refused to hand her over because Castro couldn't obtain a custody order before the girl and her father were deported.
Gallardo was detained in 2006 after illegally re-entering the country.
He agreed to return the girl to Castro before his deportation. She'd been living with his parents in Mexico.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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