Polish consulate files complaint alleging improper detention of girl at NJ airport

Poles object to detention of girl at NJ airport

NEWARK, N.J. — A 12-year-old girl from Poland was detained at Newark Liberty Airport for nine hours last month by customs officials who threatened her after they discovered her brother is in the U.S. illegally, Polish officials allege in a complaint.

Ewelina Krzywda (ehv-eh-LEEN’-uh SHIV’-dah) was en route to a camp in Pennsylvania on July 28, Deputy Consul General Marek Skulimowski said Thursday.

A woman sent by the camp to pick up Krzywda was told that only Krzywda’s brother could pick her up, according to Skulimowski.

Customs and Border Protection officials did not notify the Polish consulate about the dispute and Skulimowski was informed only after a family member called him, he said. At 1 a.m., he finally was able meet her in the parking lot from her flight that arrived at 4 p.m.

“Maybe it was a misunderstanding, but the kid was kept for nine hours,” Skulimowski said. “They should notify us, and in the case of minors, that should be right away.”

The Polish consulate in New York has sent a letter to the State Department.

Skulimowski said the girl was told she would be sent to a juvenile detention facility in Chicago if her brother didn’t show up.

Customs spokesman John Saleh would only say that the agency is looking into the allegations.

Under legislation passed in 2008, the Department of Homeland Security may reunite unaccompanied alien children only with parents or legal guardians who have proper documents and are within the United States, the agency said in a statement.

Friends or relatives who don’t have documentation of guardianship must be approved by the Department of Health and Human Services, the statement said.

The girl’s brother, Marcin Krzywda, did not immediately return a phone message Thursday.

The allegations were first reported by the New York Daily News.