Thai Boy, 3, Ordered Kept in U.S. Until INS Hearing

A 3-year-old Thai boy stranded in Los Angeles after being caught in a human trafficking ring will stay in the area at least several more months for a political asylum hearing, a federal judge ordered Monday.

“We’re pleased today for the child,” said Peter A. Schey of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which is representing Phanupong Khaisiri. “This child would probably have died within a year if he had been sent home.”

Phanupong, who U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian confirmed on Monday is HIV-positive, landed in Los Angeles on April 11 with a man and woman who rented him so they would look like tourists. In fact, they were trying to smuggle the woman into the country as part of a slave labor ring. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials deported the adults but took custody of Phanupong because he was ill and without a legal guardian.

The boy’s mother is a drug-addicted prostitute in Bangkok, and his HIV-diagnosed father committed suicide soon after his birth, Tevrizian said.

Tevrizian’s decision frustrated Thai and INS officials, who lobbied Monday to wrest control of the child from the Thai activists who have been caring for him since he arrived. The INS requested that the judge give the child’s paternal grandparents, who are staying in Los Angeles, custody of him while asylum proceedings take place.

But Tevrizian denied that request, saying the child is safe and comfortable where he is--and voicing concerns about the grandparents. Dorthea Kraeger, an attorney for the grandparents, acknowledged in court Monday that the grandmother, Sumalee Khaisiri, once was convicted of selling drugs.

Tevrizian has consistently said it is unsafe to return the boy to Thailand, where he may get inadequate medical treatment and again be used in a dangerous human trafficking ring.

“I’m trying to look out for the best interest of this child,” Tevrizian said. “If I send him back, I’m giving him a death sentence. . . . This child was dropped on my doorstep. I’ve got to do the best I can to take care of him.”

Under Tevrizian’s orders the toddler is undergoing intensive medical care. When he arrived, he had a persistent high fever, chicken pox and rashes and is now taking several HIV-related medications daily. Though he has difficulty keeping the medicines down and still has nightmares, he is slowly improving, said Chutima Vucharatavintara, a social worker who is caring for the boy.

He is also learning some English, she said.

Phanupong’s asylum application will eventually be heard before a Justice Department immigration judge, but no hearing date has been set, according to Sharon Gavin of the INS. She said the process usually takes about six months.